La voix du succès

Because I knew this was a VH1 Original, I knew not to expect much of the movie. I was right. This movie tells the story of washed-up record producer, Deacon. Deacon's jet plane back to the glamour he once knew arrives in the form of Sunni, the new "it" girl of Golden Records with the body of a goddess and voice comparable to nails on a chalkboard. Deacon takes on the project of producing Sunni's record, convinced he can make her voice sound reasonable using studio magic. This plan fails to work. Enter Maggie Stanley, a housewife blessed with a beautiful singing voice while cursed with a severe case of stage fright. Deacon decides to replace Sunni's voice with Maggie's, and chaos ensues from there when Sunni's career rises farther than Deacon ever wanted to. Realizing he is in love with the very married Maggie, Deacon's conscience takes hold of him, instructing him to tell the truth about Sunni, much to the chagrin of Lowell, a record exec at Golden who wants to keep this secret under lock and key.

Peter Outerbridge, an actor I had previously never heard of, shines as Deacon, a down-on-his-luck, believable, and very lovable character, who, despite having experienced the highs of fame and fortune and the lows of bankruptcy and flops on Billboard, still manages to find a kindred soul in the stage fright-stricken Maggie. Kari Wuhrer, as Sunni, brings an extremely annoying sense of innocence to her character, who is supposed to come off as a shrewd businesswoman in a Barbie doll package. Gail O'Grady gives a so-so performance. She has delivered a better performance because she been given better scripts to work with. The whole thing movie is lacking in its sense of direction, especially with the romantic "quadrangle" involving Sidney Golden, Sunni, Deacon, Maggie, and Stan, Maggie's husband. So much more could have been explored between Deacon and Maggie. Perhaps the writer took the route he did to keep Deacon's "good guy" image.

If you happen to catch this movie between back-to-back Behind the Movie marathons (isn't that what they ALWAYS air on VH1?...), go ahead and kill some time, but don't make a point of watching it.

In a world of music, losing control is part of being on top. The story propels you forward into a world that few make it in, and very few make Celebrity status. As if being a star isn't enough, in music, you want to be a Celebrity! Especially if you want to be around for a while, it's the ultimate challenge. Newcomers have it tough going through their neophyte or fledging stages. Cheating isn't easy with a public that is sophisticated, demanding, and skeptical. The story lets us view the world from the artist that is climbing socially, politically, and financially. The real shame is the lack of preparation on her part, and naivete to fake it... But as always, the truth comes out.

I like this film basically because of the songs. The opening sequence was what hooked me. I think it's funny how one song can be either made great, or destroyed by the wrong singing voice. The storyline isn't bad either. It appealed to me because of its Cinderella theme. It's funny and sexy, but somewhat preposterous at times. But it's all in good, clean fun. I love the singing voice used by Gail O'Grady. It's a voice that meshes well with the songs used in the film. It's a good movie to stay up late for when you don't have to go to work tomorrow. Though the script could have been better, all in all, I enjoyed it and I would like to see it again.

Nothing heavy and deep, but wholesome entertainment if you are in the mood for something light and funny. If you happen to be a fan of either Karin Wuhrer (Salin)[formerly of the series 'Sliders', and in 'Hotblooded'] and or Gail O'Grady [lately in 'Another's Woman's Husband', and the new series 'American Dreams'] (as I am), then this is something you don't want to miss. Looks like some people are just too heavy handed to appreciate something that is just light fare, and should be taken as such. ;-)

This VH1 Original Movie was one of the freshest made-for-TV films I've seen this year. The main characters were well-developed, complicated, wacky, interesting people. The story was innovative, hilariously funny at times, and thoroughly entertaining throughout.

For TV fare, this is an exceptional flick. Catch it if you can.