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f you’re a fan of Season 6 American Idol winner, Jordin Sparks, you might want to brace yourselves for the reviews of her new movie SparkLe which opened everywhere today. The reviews call the movie cliched and melodramatic. Although she gets some props for her vocal ability, Jordin’s acting is not highly praised. So far, the movie scores a 54% at Rottentomatoes.com Roger Ebert however, gave a fairly positive review.
A Woman Who Knows the Music Industry, and a Few Who Don’t (Yet) – Ms. Sparks is not much of an actress. Or at least her character, as conceived, is so innocent that she doesn’t seem fully aware of the melodramas swirling around her. But this 2007 winner of “American Idol,” who has slimmed down since her victory, has a wonderful voice. And in Sparkle’s big final number at a preposterous solo concert debut with a full gospel choir, to a packed house after minimal preparation, she delivers. That event is about as believable as the hoary myth of instant movie stardom after being discovered sipping a soda at Schwab’s drugstore. – The New York Times
Sparkle Lacks Shine: The PEOPLE Review – While the film’s melodrama is laughable (after Sister’s comedian beau, played by Mike Epps, flops at a club, the two run – in slow-motion – to the car), the real problem is that it’s unclear who the main character is supposed to be.Though the title suggests Sparkle is the star, the plot mostly revolves around Sister, at least until the end, when the movie is wrapped up in a sappy bow. Sister is more of a performer than Sparkle – meaning she suggestively grips a microphone like nobody’s business – but the stunning Ejogo, who delivers a chilling performance and gives her catchy solos her all, just doesn’t have the vocal chops that Sparks does.. – Read more at People
Sparkle – Director Salim Akil hits every cliché in the script and adds visual triteness of his own. Sparks, the Season Six American Idol winner, has a lovely smile and no discernible range as an actress. So her final transformation falls flat. Still, there’s one scene that almost redeems this mess of a movie. It’s Houston in church singing “His Eye Is On the Sparrow.” She gives it everything she has. And what a glory abides in her voice. In a movie that feels fake to its core, Houston is the genuine article. She will be much missed. – Read more at Rolling Stone
Sparkle – The three sisters are each cut from a very different cloth. The quietly ambitious Sparkle, a brilliant songwriter, is played by the sixth-season American Idol winner Jordin Sparks, who proves to be a lot like Irene Cara — that is, she’s pretty in a slightly pained way and wholesomely sincere to the point of being a bit boring. The whippersnapper Dolores (Tika Sumpter) mostly stays in the background, except when she explodes in moments of vengeful high dudgeon. And then there’s the sister known, literally, as Sister, who’s the star of the group and is played by the ravishingly sexy and accomplished British actress Carmen Ejogo. In this role, she looks and acts strikingly like a demon-driven, down-and-dirty Beyoncé, and her scenes with Mike Epps, as her charismatic but hateful comedian lover, are the most potent in the film. The truth is that whenever Sister is on screen, we’re a little unsure why the movie is named after anyone else. – Read more at EW
Sparkle – The basic purpose of the film is to fit the story into wall-to-wall music, and it does that with style and energy. “Sister and Her Sisters,” the original trio, come across as a gifted American Idol version of Diana Ross and the Supremes, which I think is the idea. And Sparkle as a solo act (with backup singers, a gospel choir and a full pit orchestra) brings down the house. “Sparkle” isn’t blindingly original but it delivers solid entertainment, and despite the clichés I was never for a moment bored. – Read more at RogerEbert.com
“Sparkle” review: A thrilling musical, despite damp Sparks – “American Idol” winner Sparks is a beautiful young woman with a great singing voice, but she’s too much of a Disney Channel majorette for this movie. Sex and soul and societal upheaval are going on all around her, but she’s only willing to dig so deep. In their scenes together, you can almost feel Luke trying to be passionate enough for both of them. Sparks’ tenuousness as an actress suffers all the more next to the powerful ensemble surrounding her, from the magnetic Luke to the carnal Ejogo to the wickedly charismatic Epps. Sumpter, it should be noted, steals scene after scene with her raised-eyebrow, take-no-prisoners deadpan humor. – Read more at Reauters
