heathfilmore She is playing the "Miss Ross" idea of Billie Holiday--she doesn't even attempt to sing like Billie. A shameful showcase for "Miss Ross" and a disservice to "Miss Holiday. Dreadful.

utgard14 Sidney J. Furie directed this biographical film about Billie Holiday, starring Diana Ross (who also sings). Billy Dee Williams costars as her love interest and Richard Pryor has a supporting role as a friendly piano player. They're both good. Oh, and the grandpa from Charles in Charge is good, too. Corny at times but nowhere near as ridiculous as the other '70s Ross/Williams collaboration, Mahogany. The junkie scenes are the worst, due to Ross' limited abilities as an actress. Her singing is nice, though. It's based off of Holiday's autobiography which wasn't entirely truthful, so a lot of this is pure fiction. Despite its faults, it's an entertaining movie. If you're familiar with Diana Ross' other movies, you know she isn't the greatest actress. This is easily her best performance, flawed as it is.

MisterWhiplash If you've seen one you may have seen them all, but luckily each film in the 'musician-has-aspirations-does-drugs-overcomes-becomes-star' saga has something else to offer, either with the quality of the music itself or, of course, the performances. Ray and Walk the Line (parodied deservedly but with warmth in Walk Hard) are our centuries answer to this, but back in the 70's there was Lady Sings the Blues, which took the life story of Billie Holiday, arguably the greatest of all the jazz singers, and made it into a two and a half hour vehicle for Diana Ross. And why not? Ross is terrific in the role, as she goes from young girl working as a scrubber and/or being raped by drunks to becoming a nightclub singer in New York city for tips (kinda like a showgirl minus the nudity), and then little by little her talent sees her off to singing across the country, and singing then at bigger venues. Oh, and the drugs, too.The movie starts with the kind of 'bang' that is almost a shameless hook with Holiday being booked on narcotics charges, looking a mess, and then being put in a straight-jacket for acting crazy in withdrawal. The movie sometimes has these shameless melodramatic moments with Ross, and yet it's not her I would blame but the script. She gives it her all (contrary to some criticism - look it up - that she wasn't right for the role), and it's really the script that falls into cliché, or falls back on the all-too-convenient romance between her and Billy Dee Williams. All the actors actually are believable, from Williams to the "Piano Man" Richard Pryor to the guys who make up Holiday's band on the road. How much or how little Holiday really was on drugs is almost besides the point. What works in the film is how much Ross sells it and makes us feel for this young woman who is struggles even as she can have it all (the last act with Carnegie Hall highlights this conflict in her character well). What would have made the film great is if they made other relationships tougher or done a little more to make things less clichéd. Whenever the music comes up the story can take a backseat, or, on occasion, be enriched by what Billie is going through; this shows best when she's still in the grip of her heroin addiction and goes up to sing, you can see the pain coming off of her face as she sings every note, and it's one of the best scenes in the film. Perhaps just having the basics of Holiday's life is enough, at least for here. It's got some good attitude to spare, mostly through the performances, and just when the movie feels like its pulling away and doing something wrong or unsatisfying it comes back and does something to with over the audience. And there are some tough, dramatic scenes that have more to do with what's around Holiday, the racism she faces practically every day she went on the road (the KKK being basically a hazard to try and avoid, or hangings by the roadside) or up on stage (i.e. the radio-show scene where she's basically booted and humiliated in front of her family). It's things like this that make the film compelling, not so much the romantic soap opera elements or the parts of the drug addiction that become repetitive.Or, again, like the movie Ray or Walk the Line. If you liked those, you'll like this.

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.