RoslynSanchez This is botched in a hundred ways. Factual errors aren't the point - all biopics play with the truth for dramatic reasons, but the story here is inept. The story starts and ends nowhere, investing none of the events with significance. There's no sense of drama, no building of tension, no interesting characters, nothing but Diana Ross bumbling around the sets looking awkward and projecting little personality. How does one re-create a 1920's Harlem whorehouse and manage to make it look as interesting as a Motel 6?And the singing - there's no doubt Diana Ross has a voice, but she doesn't display the slightest connection with the material. No one could imitate Billie, but one would hope for some kind of interesting interpretation to help pull off the impersonation. But Ross phones in the tunes, with little feeling or style.Most of the other characters are cardboard, with Richard Pryor doing the weirdest role of his life as a timid, comical piano player.Absolutely unwatchable for anyone but die-hard Diana Ross fans, and for Billie Holiday lovers and movie buffs, sheer torture.

tavm In continuing my reviews of African-Americans in film in chronological order for Black History Month, we're now at 1972 with the biographical depiction of Billie Holliday as portrayed by Diana Ross called Lady Sings the Blues. While the movie itself isn't very accurate in recounting Lady Day's life and career and Ms. Ross herself hardly resembles the legendary singer, it does move along nicely as a drama especially with two of her costars-Billy Dee Williams and Richard Pryor-providing many scene stealing moments. As Holiday's lover Louis McKay, Williams oozes great romantic chemistry with Ross as we see him trying to get her out of whatever addictions she keeps coming back to. Then there's Pryor as Piano Man as we see many of his humorous moments, with or without Diana, bring some needed levity whenever things get heavy though there's some good drama concerning him at the end. Other black performers I'd like to mention include: Isabel Sandford as the first madame that Holiday encounters as we see her tell Billie she can keep the record she keeps playing. She was already familiar to TV viewers as Louise Jefferson on "All in the Family" which would later spin her off into "The Jeffersons". Then there's Lynn Hamilton as the second madame Ross encounters. Ms. Hamilton would later that year or next become familiar as Fred Sandford's girlfriend Donna Harris on "Sandford and Son". Harry Caesar plays a really creepy man who forces himself on teenage Billie in perhaps the movie's most chilling scene. There's also Jester Hairston-later familiar to me as Rolly on "Amen"-as a butler and, in perhaps the most humorous scene, Scatman Crothers as Big Ben, a client that prostitute Billie quits on to go audition at a night club. Ms. Ross was the second (or third since Cicely Tyson was also nominated that year for Sounder) African-American to be nominated an Oscar for Best Actress after Dorothy Dandridge's previous nod some 18 years before. It was much deserved especially with the drug-induced depictions handled realistically by her. The songs Holiday made famous are handled by Diana in a way that brings you back to the period depicted here. When the score plays during the Ross-Williams dialogue, however, it brings me temporarily out of the period and into the obviously-made-in-'70s mode. Other than that I highly enjoyed Lady Sings the Blues and recommend it to anyone who loves a good drama with good music.

Isaac5855 LADY SINGS THE BLUES was the heavily fictionalized film biography of legendary cabaret chanteuse Billie Holliday, who rose to great stardom as one of the great blues impressionists of our time but, sadly, was never able to complete escape the multiple demons which haunted her for her entire life. Diana Ross made an impressive film debut in the role of Lady Day, which garnered her an Oscar nomination. Though her opening scenes playing Billie as a teenager are silly and unconvincing, Ross delivers a riveting performance for the most part, guided by her Svengali Berry Gordy, who makes a brief cameo appearance as a drug dealer. Billy Dee Williams officially became a star with his charismatic turn as Louis McKay, Billie's true love and Richard Pryor also received an Oscar nomination for his funny and caustic performance as "Piano Man", Billie's best friend and piano player, who was chasing demons of his own. The film is lavishly mounted with Ross draped in some stunning costumes that definitely merited Oscar attention. Ross gets plenty of opportunities to sing and though she really doesn't sound anything like Holliday did, she does capture the spirit of this tragic songbird. It's not a great guide as far as providing facts about Holliday's life. It seems to gloss over Holliday's alleged early days as a prostitute and her drug abuse, but it's a grand example of storytelling on screen with a riveting leading character who will capture your heart.

rooprect Before watching this I knew that it wouldn't be factually correct. I knew that Diana Ross would sing in her own style without trying to imitate the real Billie Holiday. And I knew that this film was hated & protested by Billie's real life associates and family. I watched it anyway expecting to enjoy it the same way I enjoyed Amadeus even though it stepped all over the real Mozart. I mean, c'mon people, if we want history we should go to a library, not a movie theatre.But with all that said I was still horribly put off by the lack of continuity with the spirit of Billie's life. For one thing, Diana's portrayal made Billie look like a blabbering halfwit. Even in the scenes where she's supposed to be stone cold sober she acts like a flake. If you've ever seen footage of the real Billie, you know that the real Lady was a tough, sharp, smart human being. You don't survive on the streets of New York by being an idiot the way she's shown to be in the film.Next, the performances were shown totally out of context. For example, the song "My Man" is a chilling song about spousal abuse, but in the movie they gloss it up to be a feel-good homage to her guardian angel of a husband Louis McKay. In real life, Louis was as abusive as all of her husbands (hence the song "My Man"). This is just one example of the many incorrect interpretations this movie presents of Billie's music and her life.OK, but like I said in my 1st paragraph, I can allow the director some poetic license if the movie is worthwhile. Unfortunately this movie didn't deliver. Instead of focusing on the true hardships and trials that plagued Ms. Holiday, we get a whole bunch of clichés about drug use, trying to make it in the business, and how you're supposed to be good to your friends. I'm not sure if this was supposed to be about Billie Holiday or if it was just an ABC afterschool special with clever packaging.The acting was good (if you choose to accept the idea of Billie Holiday being a weak minded flake), and there were several dramatic moments that were well staged. But here's my biggest gripe: the musical score KILLED this movie! It's supposed to be a 1940s jazz biopic, so why are we getting 70s "star search" orchestrations? You know, like the cheezy swelling violins and pseudo-disco drums when Ed McMahon reads the winner of the competition. Talk about an anachronism, to say nothing of the way it cheapens some otherwise powerful moments.Lastly, I have to say that fans of Billie's music will be pretty annoyed at Diana Ross's versions. They are two totally different singers. Billie sang in a lower register (except when hitting those high notes which she always did clean & clear WITHOUT vibrato) whereas Diana prefers theatrics in the upper register and doesn't go very low at all. This is really a movie for Diana Ross fans or for casual jazz listeners who have never heard of Billie Holiday. Like another reviewer suggested, if you're truly interested in Billie, you should buy some of her records or try to find some old films of her performances. Her music is the best biography you'll ever get.