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Mixed or average reviews - based on 28 Critics What's this?

User Score

Mixed or average reviews- based on 20 Ratings

  • Starring: Carmen Ejogo, Derek Luke, Jordin Sparks, Mike Epps, Whitney Houston
  • Summary: Sparkle tells the story of the title character; Sparkle, the youngest of three sisters and a music prodigy who struggles to becomes a star while overcoming issues that are tearing her family apart. Sparkle is from an affluent Detroit area, naive to the unexpected experiences her new life will bring as she and her two sisters blossom into a dynamic singing group during the Motown-era. During her journey, Sparkle endures the trials and tribulations of fame but fights to rise through the ranks of the music business. "Sparkle" is set in the late 1960s when Detroit was the music mecca of America. (Tristar Pictures) Collapse
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 28
  2. Negative: 2 out of 28
  1. Reviewed by: Kevin C. Johnson
    Aug 17, 2012
    88
    Energetic, colorful and packed with strong performances and musical numbers good enough to get by, Sparkle beams brightly.
  2. Reviewed by: Alison Willmore
    Aug 18, 2012
    80
    Sister is the one you remember; like the film, she's mesmerizing because of her flaws as well as her charms.
  3. 60
    The shadow of Whitney Houston's stardom and crushing recent death hang heavy over this midrange movie that promises its female audience at least three good cries during its somewhat overlong run time.
  4. Reviewed by: Courtney Shea
    Aug 16, 2012
    38
    Anyone who has seen "Dream Girls," "What's Love Got To Do With It?" or even "The Doors" will find themselves in familiar (if inferior) territory here.

See all 28 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 8
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 8
  3. Negative: 3 out of 8
  1. What a great movie!! I loved the story!! Always step out on faith was basically the theme and the director was really good he caught all the drama!!Whitney was great in her role..i was floored when she sung "His Eyes Is On The Sparrow" absolutely a tear jerking tour DE force!!!!!! bt Mike Epps & sister were impeccable in this film both deserve Oscar nominations Expand
  2. This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Hello, this is my review of "SPARKLE" aka my favorite movie of 2012. I love it, in fact, it's in my top 10 favorite movies list, it was great. Here. Too lazy to spoiler it.

    I loved 'Sparkle'. I saw it yesterday and it blew me away completely, one of my family members would come in the room alot and would literally talk to themselves worrying if I died or was having a heart attack or something, I was literally frozen during the whole film, I was so focused into it and was so into it. But anyway, It was an absolutely great movie. Especially because I'm into most of the genres they did in the movie. It's somewhat of ashame that the critics enjoyed Whitney's acting more than anyone/anything else in the movie, because yes Whitney was awesome in the movie, especially in her singing part, but I also loved Jordin Carmen's acting as well. They were superb. I loved this movie so much, and I had a meltdown moment when 'Celebrate' came on during the ending credits, because it's one of my favorite songs from 2012. It's such a good song, and I'm not usually into happy songs. So this movie was definitely my favorite film of 2012.

    I also didn't expect Whitney to be so damn good, either. I know she had a background in movies (couldn't be arsed to check out any of her old movies prior to seeing this, though) but I didn't know she was that good. There was a scene where she was yelling at Jordin Sparks aka Sparkle and it was so intense. I also love how the last memory of Whitney in this movie is when she helped Jordin get her red dress on and tell her she loved her and to do a great show, and also how she was in the audience during her performance yelling from the audience "SHINE, BABY, SHINE!" that mean't so much to me, none of you have any idea how much I loved that. And the fact that Whitney could've went back home instead of being in this scene cheering Jordin/Sparkle on was also showing how sweet she was to Jordin and how mothering she was to everyone there. It really is true, she was such a mother to those three girls like she was in the movie. It was wonderful.

    And there were some scenes in the movie that made me go "Oh.. wow.. didn't expect that", not to spoil anything, but there was some domestic violence scenes in the film and that made me kinda've uncomfortable because I dealt with enough of that stuff in the 'For Colored Girls' movie. Shockingly enough, I did tear up a bit during Whitney's singing scene, I couldn't help it because I loved the song she sang, I always loved 'His Eye is on the Sparrow' for most of my life, it's one of my favorite songs of all time, so hearing and seeing her sing that was an awesome moment for me.
    --
    So there you have it. I rate the movie a 8 out of 10 with 4.3 stars. I loved it, I loved it, I absolutely loved it, I can't express that enough.

    And as for the special features on the film, it somewhat lacked of the typical stuff that you would expect from most movies such as behind the scene footage/on-set footage, cast commentary (I prefer that instead of directors commentary, to be honest), and all that jazz. But regardless, I enjoyed what they had in the Special Features part of the DVD, especially the 'Tribute to Whitney Houston' video they had in there, especially because I am a HUGE HUGE fan of Whitney, I listen to her alot I'm very happy that the video wasn't full of "We lost an amazing artist, she was so amazing *crying everywhere*" they were mostly discussing her role as the executive producer, her role as the mother, and how motherly she was to Jordin, Carmen, and the rest of the cast. She would constantly give them "mommy hugs" and tell them she loved them and asked how they were doing and just making them feel at home, and just being very sweet, very kind and caring to everyone on set. And I just loved that. And one thing that caught my attention the most in the video, one thing that made me smile was that they said Whitney saw herself in Jordin Sparks, which I thought was a huge amazing compliment to her I am a fan of Jordin Sparks and Whitney Houston so that is definitely a highlight moment for me. But yeah, to sum it up, I'm glad they didn't make it too depressing and sad.
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  3. The movie was totally different from the Original, which in my opinion was not as good as the 1st film Sparkle. Carmen Ejogo would've been a great "Sista", if the writing of the script was as good as the original. Jordin Sparks was not believable as Sparkle, I felt as though I was watching Jordin trying to act as oppose to believing she was Sparkle. I really wish that the creators would've did better justice to the remake of this film. It is a classic and one of my favorites. I wasn't moved by the remake as I was with the original version. The costumes during there performances, was off. Whitney Houston's portrayal as the mother was totally different from the mother's character in the original. These were two totally different movies. I actually went to youtube and watched the original and it moved me to tears, unlike the remake. I really would like to see someone re-do this film again, and give it justice. Not a good re-make of this timeless piece. It needs to be redone, stick to the original mold and upgrade. I felt as though I was watching a Disney special, as oppose to a Raw film like the Original Sparkle. Expand
  4. It is a sad attempt at something that could have been so much. The original film was a darker, deeper story, this seems like a Disney made version that lacks so much to the story. Jordin Sparks is not meant to act, a good singer she is, her acting ability is not up to par with what it should have been. Too bad as well, I was looking forward to something great. Expand

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