Aline

Greetings again from the darkness. Ana Gasteyer's "Saturday Night Live" parody of Celine Dion not-so-humbly announcing herself as "the greatest singer in the world" was brilliant sketch comedy and good for a hearty laugh. All these years later, filmmaker Valerie Lemercier cast herself as the lead in this unofficial biopic "inspired by" the story of Celine Dion. It's a fictionalized account co-written with Brigitte Buc that sticks to the real story in some parts, while also being a bit creepy and serving up a quasi-horror film sensation in others. You might ask, "How can the story of Celine Dion" have anything to do with horror?", and well the answer is that Ms. Lemercier (a woman in her 50's), plays the fictionally named Aline Dieu at ALL ages (thanks to some CGI). Seeing that face on the young girl peering up at her family on stage is as creepy and discomforting as any screen image we will see this year.

It's no accident that Lemercier's character is named Dieu, which is French for God. She clearly worships the real Ms. Dion, and this is intended as a loving tribute to the singer. Aline Dieu is the 14th child born into a French-Canadian family. Many of the family members perform as a singing act ... think The Osmonds or the Cowsills, and Aline is still young when her amazing vocal talent is discovered and becomes a featured part of the performances. Her headstrong mother, Sylvette Dieu (played by Danielle Fichaud), is very protective of her youngest child and is involved as the family contacts a well-known talent manager named Guy-Claude Kamar (Sylvain Marcel).

Aline becomes a teenage singing sensation, and of course, later becomes an international icon, especially after singing the TITANIC (1997) song, "My Heart Will Go On". The film tracks the meteoric rise of her career, but as in real life, much of the focus is on the relationship between Aline and Guy-Claude (obviously the stand-in for Rene Angelil). They first met when she was 12, and despite the 26-year age gap, a love developed that resulted in marriage years later (when she was of legal age). Aline's mother's reaction to this relationship was disgust - in a funny kind of way. She felt her princess deserved better than "an old prune". We also learn of Aline's vocal cord scare, the couple's initial struggles to have kids, and how he focused on the business side to protect her ... a cause he remained devoted to because of his heart condition. A big part of this was the infamous Las Vegas residency, which has since been copied by many artists.

Despite the success and brilliant artistry, there is a certain sadness to a woman who seemed quite isolated from everything but her family. This point is driven home when she admits to never have seen the city where she's been performing, and the fact that she seems to have no friends outside of her makeup artist Fred (Jean-Noel Broute). Ms. Lemercier does a fine job capturing the various looks and style over the years, and her movements on stage are spot on. She lip-syncs to the familiar songs ... sung not by Celine, but rather Victoria Sio. The movie will likely work best for fans of Celine Dion, while others may not recover from the Act I creep factor.

Opening in theaters on April 8, 2022.

It's not perfect but I loved this movie so much. Was funny and moving. All the actors who played her family were so good, especially the mother, she was an amazing actress. It was inspiring to see, to be a star, Celine always knew how. It showed why only some people truly shine, the fearless bravery-philosophically-getting out of your own way. Celine was never in her own way and always had the support of a loving family and grew up surrounded by music. Her life was a perfect storm for talent to soar. I wish I had that, such a good loving supportive mother who believed in her so much. I think part of what makes a talent make it commercially is having the right people believe in you.

I was expecting so much worst. I actually enjoyed it and I think it's a nice hommage to Céline Dion work and career! Some bits are a bit folkloric, exactly what you would expect from what the French think of Québec, "ma cabane au Canada". It would of been even better if the local accent was better. It was fast paced and Valérie Lemercier did a good job, even as some mentioned, playing a 12 years old girl is a bit strange. I found some funny parts too, only locals would know, like when talking about Ginette Reno and that local reporter Mme Lévesque. It is not meant to be a biopic so all the people that write that it's not accurate and so on, just stop watching! The choice of music was good too. As a local Montréaler we kind of grew up along with Céline so it was nice to hear and a nice reminder of all of her so many successes both in French and in English! Overall 2 thumbs up and it's an easy 2 hours to go.

It has been a long time since I had so much good simple fun watching a film. Aline is the story of a simple nice girl who is catapulted into fame and riches, thanks to her voice, her hard work, her determination, her capacity to endure pressure, her astute manager and later husband, and her dedicated mother. From the get-go, we are warned that artistic licence has been taken to inject humoristic elements into the narrative. So, instead of a stale documentary about Céline Dion, we are entertained with a funny biography of fictional Aline Dieu. Unless secondary humour eludes you, you are bound to have a good time. I give high marks to this film, not for its cinematography that is well conducted but not exceptional, but for its skilfulness to elicit positive feelings about the heroin. You will never think the same way about Céline after watching Aline, you might even love her.

Where the heck did the low ratings for this movie come from? It is fabulous.

There is humour, love, great music and some very good acting. Everything a person could want in a movie, and its a tear jerker, which I kind of like too.

I have always loved Celine's voice, but not so much her choice of songs. IMHO if her song choice was better she would have been a total rocket.

This movie lets us see and understand the inner workings of Celine in a very profound way. From her humble beginnings and the stumbling blocks she had to overcome to achieve her goals.

Also her love and marriage to her manager. When I first heard of it I admit I wondered.. quite the age gap. However if things really went the way the movie portrays them, then I'm 100% on board. Love cannot be dictated.

In all this is a first rate movie, ignore the haters and their whining about trivialities, this is a movie that should not be missed.