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Has anyone here seen the bio pic about Bessie Smith, played by Queen Latifah??
She apparently had executive producer credit on it too.
Overall I found the movie to be on the boring side... but that is common with those types of movies as they only have real life to work with and can't change things up too much.
One thing I think that came across was that Bessie Smith wasn't really a nice person. I get that she had a tough upbringing and those days weren't kind to black folks, but again... she was mean spirited and was a complete drunk.
There were tons of scenes where she had a jug of moonshine in her hand.
There are a couple of scenes where she is doing casting calls for her show and she turns away lighter black skinned women calling them high yellers or something crude like that I can't remember.
I don't care if you have a bad childhood doesn't give you free reign to be a azzhole to people.
I'm surprised that they showed her in such a bad way.. albeit most likely an honest way, I sort of respect that, at least they didn't gloss it up and stray from reality.
The acting overall was pretty good by all players, I thought Monique did a pretty good job and in reality she should have played the lead, but again, Latifah was the producer, so I'm sure she got her picks of roles... LOL...
I saw it and thought the movie was awful and Latifah's acting worse than awful.
I think she did OK..... must have been ok enough, as I found her to be terribly distasteful.
I think Monique would have been the better pick to play the lead.
The dude that was her husband, has that big scar on his face, he played "Chalky" in Boardwalk Empire. I thought that scar was part of the Chalky character, but apparently it's not.
I actually think I would like Latifah based on the few interviews I've seen with her, chowhound. She has a very, very good singing voice, too, that she rarely uses.
The Bessie Smith movie was bland, in my opinion, and I would bet a bundle Ms. Smith was anything but bland. Latifah portrayed very little warmth playing this earthy and immensely talented singer.
Last edited by texan2yankee; 10-26-2015 at 02:47 PM..
I actually think I would like Latifah based on the few interviews I've seen with her, chowhound. She has a very, very good singing voice, too, that she rarely uses.
The Bessie Smith movie was bland, in my opinion, and I would bet a bundle Ms. Smith was anything but bland. Latifah portrayed very little warmth playing this earthy and immensely talented singer.
Well, like I posted initially, they put Bessie Smith in a bad light... at least to me... maybe one could just say that they were "showing warts and all" but IDK..... her holding a paper bag next to a black woman and if she wasn't dark enough she'd get the boot.... that just seemed tacky and mean spirited.... but again... we get that were all flawed in some way or another....
I too think Queen Latifah is a talented singer... not my style of music that she does. I actually don't care for the blues that Bessie Smith is famous for.... I just find all of it to be sort of annoying and reminds me of caterwauling cats... LOL... I guess it's just me as she is famous thee world over... but the Blues in general isn't my bag.
Last edited by Chowhound; 10-26-2015 at 03:46 PM..
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