On
May 16, 2014, I saw and wrote a review of a movie called “Belle” and
ended it with “THIS IS A MUST SEE MOVIE AND YOU MUST SEE GUGU
MBATHA-RAW!”
And it is still on my list of 5 of the best movies of the about 50 I have seen this year!
Today,
6 months later, I saw “Beyond The Lights” and the bottom line is THIS
IS A MUST SEE MOVIE AND YOU MUST SEE GUGU MBATHA-RAW! (Also Nate Parker
and Minnie Driver but more about that later.)
Unless
you have never seen a show business movie there isn’t a spoiler in this
movie as screenwriter Gina Prince-Bythewood has written every cliché
into it from the overbearing stage mother. the super star rapper who
mistreats the rising star, the record producer who manipulates her and
to the boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl plot. The
differences are that the screenwriter is also the director who really
believes in the material and performances that lift it above the
clichés. Prince-Bythewood makes this a good old romance movie that we
haven’t seen in awhile.
Let’s start with Gugu
Mbatha-Raw who takes a role completely opposite that of the one who
played Belle in the movie of that name. She is in sexy, almost not
there, outfits showing off a great figure, does choreography that show
of her sexuality, sings rap and a Nina Simone song, “Blackbird”, that
shows off a vocal ability she could make a living at and, yes, her
acting. She takes the role of a wounded bird who learns to fly free and
makes it fresh and new.
Her costar Nate Parker,
as police officer, Kaz, with a police captain father, played by Danny
Glover, who is grooming him to enter politics with unlimited potential,
shares a chemistry with Mbatha-Raw that lights up the screen. They make a
good old fashioned screen couple that makes you root for them all the
way, not to mention they are both very sexy looking people.
Minnie
Driver as the stage mother, who can be overbearing, does such a fine
job she almost steals the picture and keeps you on her side even though
you know and can see the damage she has done her daughter.
Colson
‘MGK’ Baker as the super star rapper, with more tattoos than I have
ever seen on an actor, along with the rest of the cast such as India
Jean-Jacques, Benito Martinez, Aml Ameen and Aisha Hinds, along with
others support, the stars with first class performances.
The
soundtrack featuring new songs, will also introduce Nina Simone to a
new generation though I wished they had her singing a couple of songs.
Though
this won’t be among my top 5 pictures to see I will end it with YOU
MUST SEE GUGU MBATHA-RAW and see it on the big screen!