Sparkle

1976

Action / Drama / Music

6
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 90% · 11 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 90% · 5K ratings
IMDb Rating 6.7/10 10 2031 2K

motown singer drugs girl group harlem, new york city rise to fame

Plot summary

Three sisters start out singing in their church choir in Harlem in the late 1950s and become a successful girl group in the 1960s.

Director

Sam O'Steen Photo
Sam O'Steen

Top cast

Tony King Photo
Tony King as Satin
Bob Harks Photo
Bob Harks as Audience Member
Mary Alice Photo
Mary Alice as Effie
Dwan Smith Photo
Dwan Smith as Delores
720p.BluRay 1080p.BluRay
900.35 MB
1280*720
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 38 min
Seeds 1
1.63 GB
1904*1072
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 38 min
Seeds 3

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by bokiluis 7 / 10

A Supremes-like Storyline

With the success of "Dreamgirls" on Broadway and film, and several other films with similar story lines, one wonders if there will ever be an actual bio-film of the real Supremes? To the embittered review by "Husky Miller"(his handle kind of tells you something of his personality), "Sparkle" is not supposed to be some sort of definitive drama. It is entertainment. Unfortunately, until Berry Gordy/Motown Film Productions began making movies like the multi-nominated "Lady Sings the Blues", Hollywood was very conservative in green lighting films targeted first to the black community. The early 70s saw a mishmash of so-called "black exploitation" movies. Hollywood understood there's an audience of moviegoers that were underserved. But just like "slum lord housing", the movies being made were low budget trash that had extremely limited endurance. Just like Mr. Gordy upgraded the image of black artists and entertainment with global appealing stars like The Supremes (hence Diana Ross), The Temptations. The Jackson 5, Motown films symbolized works with crossover appeal. "Lady Sings the Blues", "Mahogany", "The Wiz", "Bingo Long and the Travelling Allstars" endures nearly a half century later and are still seen on cable. It's no coincidence that Motown gave the world, a Mount Rushmore-like of artists from the aforementioned The Supremes, The Temptations, The Jackson 5, Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Marvin Gaye and Smokey Robinson for instance. So "Sparkle" is by no means some great work of art, but, it is a labor of love that inspired an update in 2012 by the late, great Whitney Houston, En Vogue even turned one of the songs "Something He Can Feel" into a hit again in the 90s. So Mr. Miller, lighten up and try and find the innocence and joy in an entertaining film.
Reviewed by tavm 7 / 10

Sparkle is quite a charming musical drama about three sisters forming a group

After several years of reading about this musical film, I finally watched Sparkle on Netflix Streaming. It's about a trio of Harlem sisters consisting of Lonette McKee (Sister), Dwan Smith (Dolores), and Irene Cara (Sparkle). Philip Michael Thomas also appears as Stix who's originally one of two male members of the group before becoming the groups' manager later on. And Mary Alice plays their mother Effie. The original songs are by Curtis Mayfield who was from Chicago of which I'm also a native of. The presentations of the performances are very good especially when Ms. McKee or later Ms. Cara are showcased in their close-ups. It was also a nice treat to see Don Bexley-best known to me and others as Bubba on "Sandford and Son"-as one of the M.C.'s. The drama was maybe a little too quick the way they were presented but overall, I very much liked Sparkle. P.S. When I read the obits of Whitney Houston yesterday and found out about her involvement in an upcoming remake with Jordin Sparks as the title character and Ms. Houston as the mother, my heart broke when I realized she wouldn't live to see the result which will be released this August. So it's in her memory I dedicate this review.
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