Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B (Lifetime)

[Chrissytd]

Did anyone watch this last night?

Edited November 16, 2014 by Chrissytd

[2AT]

Thanks so much for starting this thread Chrissytd because I was wondering if anyone else saw this. I can't get over how boring the movie was, so much so that after about an hour I stopped paying attention and went on YouTube to watch her old music videos. I forgot how much I liked "At Your Best," "Are You That Somebody," "Try Again" and "More Than A Woman." However, the movie was like a bad high school play.

Edited November 16, 2014 by 2AT

[Dejana]

The actress playing Aaliyah wasn't bad exactly, but she reminded me of Jordin Sparks. Timbaland and Damon Dash got to be way better looking onscreen. It was all pretty by-the-numbers.

[aradia22]

I taped it to watch today. It's similar to the other Lifetime biopics. Very choppy. No strong narrative. No real judgment or point of view resulting in a collection of random vignettes. I will say the acting is better than most of the schlock Lifetime turns out. Was this filmed in Canada? At least two of the actors are on Degrassi right now. The music isn't bad. The in-film music I mean. I'm not an Aaliyah fan so I don't have anything to compare it to. 

 

Putting aside the respectable music biopics like Coal Miner's Daughter and the like, my favorites are the Jackson 5 one and the Celine Dion one. I feel like this movie was kind of trying for Selena but Selena at least pretended to have more of a story. The R. Kelly stuff felt like it could have anchored the narrative but it did not. Again, vignettes. Also, bless that poor actor. They put him in the worst wig cap I have ever seen. That makeup person should never work again. That was embarrassing. Also, he looked nothing like R. Kelly. First they tried to hide it with the hoodie and the sunglasses and the facial hair and hats and even that wasn't working. Then they took the props away and it got worse. Speaking of the look-alikes, I thought the actress playing Aaliyah was alright but she looks a lot more like someone else. I can't place it. The Timbaland and Gladys Knight weren't awful knowing that they didn't go on an exhaustive search and they were never going to find carbon copies. I don't know what they were thinking with Missy Elliot.

 

I don't know why Lifetime movies are so scared of plot and structure.

 

Some of the lip-synching in this movie was awful. Journey to the Past sounded rough.

 

Idiot that I am I'm still excited for Whitney Houston. Am I going to watch The Red Tent? Hell, yes. I'm still on the fence about an En Vogue Christmas.  I hate myself sometimes.

[luckyroll3]

Was it just me, or did they try to downplay R. Kelley's role in their relationship and subsequent marriage?

[luckyroll3]

And what happened to Zendaya?   I thought she was supposed to play Aaliyah.

[WendyCR72]

And what happened to Zendaya?   I thought she was supposed to play Aaliyah.

 

She dropped out ages ago, probably because of the family disapproval of the film, etc.

[WhitneyWhit]

I've heard a couple things about Zendaya. I've heard that she dropped out on her own because she wasn't happy with the film, but I also heard that the producers let her go due to the negative reaction of her casting and they allowed her to say what she wanted to save face.

 

I know this is Lifetime, but couldn't they have spent longer than five minutes on casting? The actress playing Missy could play her now, but she looked nothing like 1996 Missy.

 

I was a huge fan of Aaliyah and I remember the night MTV broke the news of her death, I felt like I had been punched in the stomach. I was hoping for a better movie, but considering the Saved By The Bell fiasco and the Brittany Murphy film, I should have known what we were in for.

[aradia22]

 

I was hoping for a better movie, but considering the Saved By The Bell fiasco and the Brittany Murphy film, I should have known what we were in for.

I would rank this above Saved by the Bell and Brittany Murphy. It was closer to Lizzie Borden and Flowers in the Attic. Boring but relatively competent. I give them credit for trying for Selena and getting decent actors for the most part but there was just no story. You have to start with the script. Decide what story you want to tell. 

[keke23]

I didn't have high expectation for this movie to begin with, but I realized that even my low expectations were too high. The music was awful. Every performance looked like amateur night at the Apollo.  I won't even get into the awful casting. I'm at a loss for words I'm so disappointed.

[drivethroo]

The actress they cast as Missy looked (and dressed) like 2003 Missy Elliott, not 1996-97 MIssy Elliott.  Since they couldn't afford a decent bald cap, I know they couldn't afford a finger waves wig.

 

Somebody on Twitter said they thought they saw an iPhone in the movie.  Aaliyah's uncle looked like Col. Taylor from A Different World and her daddy looked like Bokeem Woodbine.  R Kelly looked like Joe, Rashad looked like Drake and Dame Dash looked like Lloyd Banks.  I'm sure Joe, Drake & Lloyd Banks were wondering why their Twitter mentions were blowing up Saturday night.

[Avaleigh]

Even with my modified expectations this shit was truly terrible.

I didn't have high expectation for this movie to begin with, but I realized that even my low expectations were too high. The music was awful. Every performance looked like amateur night at the Apollo. I won't even get into the awful casting. I'm at a loss for words I'm so disappointed.

Thank you for making me LOL. I do so agree.

The casting was indeed terrible. The guy playing R. Kelly? Just, no. And yeah, they totally tried to dial back the creep factor . It's so annoying how often an asshole like him is still being protected by people at the end of the day. The casting for Missy made no sense. I thought the best pieces of casting were probably for Gladys and Rashad.

There were moments though in the movie where the dialogue would definitely take me back. Like hearing that her first big touring opportunity came with acts like Keith Sweat and Blackstreet? (Damnit if I'm not feeling oldish.) I'm three years younger than Aaliyah so I well remember really liking her, Brandy, and Monica during this period and kind of looking to them for certain style inspirations especially Aaliyah's peekaboo hairstyle that I totally admit to copying around 15-16. I also felt a pang when Whitney was mentioned. (Now that's a Lifetime Movie that is probably going to make me feel wrecked emotionally terrible or not.)

Wendy Williams made it seem like she was so proud of this I actually thought there was a (small) chance that it wouldn't be totally terrible. Oh well. Unbelievable that she's shocked that the family wouldn't want her music used in a bad movie like this.

Edited November 17, 2014 by Avaleigh

[qtpye]

I agree with most of the posts.  Did they have a blind person casting the tertiary characters, because Damon Dash, R. Kelly, and Missy looked nothing like their real life counter parts.

 

I was a little younger then Aaliyah and I thought she was cool as hell.  However, they made her come off like a Disney princess.  I am sure real life Aaliyah was quite sweet and innocent, but she was never lame.  If you did not know anything about her music you would not know how raw and cutting edge her sound could be.

 

I hated the way the made R. Kelly look like an innocent man in love.  The wrongness of that relationship was really not explored.  I also hated they said nothing about her co-starring with Jet Li for the movie.  An Arican American woman and an Asian man as the leads for a major movie (which was also a retelling of Romeo and Juliet) was revolutionary for the time.

Edited November 17, 2014 by qtpye

[junemeatcleaver]

It really steamed me how they romanticized R. Kelly's and Aaliyah's relationship.  He groomed her and married her when she was only 15, they weren't partners on a level playing field torn apart by Aaliyah's meanie pants parents.  It's not like Lifetime and Wendy Williams were afraid of being sued, the marriage and annulment is public record.

 

Everyone involved in the production and casting of this filthy movie should be completely ashamed of themselves.

[Avaleigh]

qtpye, I appreciate your comments about R. Kelly. I find it no end frustrating that he's been allowed to get away with his treatment of women for as long as he has and I was at least hoping that the movie would shed some light on the predator factor. I find it truly disturbing that his well documented tendencies towards underage girls are only acknowledged and called out by a small handful of people.

As far as Aaliyah songs and videos that I remember really liking- -Are You Ready?(from Sunset Park), We Need a Resolution (probably my favorite), Back in One Piece, Are You That Somebody? , I Miss You, More than a Woman, and One in a Million are probably my favorites.

Confessional Blasphemy----I was never a fan of Four Page Letter.

Since I mentioned the other two single name contemporaries of Aaliyah's, I'll also say that I wish the movie had touched on this a bit since all three girls were very much aware of each other and I think there was a touch of a competitive factor. Brandy certainly acknowledged it at one point and Monica might have as well IIRC. I think as far as their first three albums that Brandy probably had the edge with the debut album while Aaliyah seemed to have had the best third album. With Aaliyah's third album to me it seemed like she really knew who she was at that point whereas the other two seemed like they were still trying to figure out what works best for them. I'm torn about who had the better sophmore effort. Maybe Brandy but I can see the argument for all three.

ETA

junemeatcleaver, ITA with your comments.

Edited November 17, 2014 by Avaleigh

[luckyroll3]

It really steamed me how they romanticized R. Kelly's and Aaliyah's relationship.  He groomed her and married her when she was only 15, they weren't partners on a level playing field torn apart by Aaliyah's meanie pants parents.

 

This!  Especially since it seems like going after young girls is part of his pattern.  That and peeing on them.  (Back on the TWoP Hollywood Ex's thread someone from the same high school/area wrote a great post about him returning to the school after he made it big to scope out the teens.)

 

ETA:  And word to what Avaleigh posted in her first paragraph.  

Edited November 17, 2014 by luckyroll3

[aradia22]

 

The casting was indeed terrible. The guy playing R. Kelly? Just, no. And yeah, they totally tried to dial back the creep factor . It's so annoying how often an asshole like him is still being protected by people at the end of the day.

I wouldn't say they were dialing back the creep factor exactly. I have no problem with the "but I love him, daddy!" stuff because that dialogue would fit with what a 15-year-old who thought she was in love with someone would say. However, I think the problem comes in with the way the script doesn't have a point of view. It's not that they were romanticizing their relationship. It's that they took no angle. There was no perspective, good or bad. You don't need to be heavy handed but you have to take a stand one way or the other to tell a story. 

 

I also hated they said nothing about her co-starring with Jet Li for the movie.  An Arican American woman and an Asian man as the leads for a major movie (which was also a retelling of Romeo and Juliet) was revolutionary for the time.

Why was any of that in the movie? It had no relevance to the story other than showing that she got cast in a movie when she pursued an acting career. They could have expressed it with a few lines of dialogue. If they weren't going to explore it there was no point wasting what time they did on it. 

[JBC344]

I would imagine they would of explored that because "Romeo Must Die" was a big hit and it got great critical reviews.  To me that is a big accomplishment to any new actor.  Her performance also lead to her being cast in "Queen of the Damned" and "The Matrix Movies".

[aradia22]

 

I would imagine they would of explored that because "Romeo Must Die" was a big hit and it got great critical reviews.  To me that is a big accomplishment to any new actor.  Her performance also lead to her being cast in "Queen of the Damned" and "The Matrix Movies".

What I meant was that it didn't make sense in the context of the movie. They didn't really talk about it being a hit or getting good reviews. After the buildup with her wanting to be an actress they could have had her working with an acting coach or being on set or even being backstage (since they loved putting her in the makeup chair... low budget I would imagine) being nervous or wondering if the cast/creatives would respect her. They could have had a short scene with her and fake Jet Li. Something to justify it. There was just so much of the movie that wasn't tied to a story at all. It felt like watching a wikipedia page brought to life with no perspective or judgments or context.

[anadyr21]

My own confessional blasphemy; I always thought Aaliyah had a weak voice, that benefited from creative and cutting edge producers. The music needed a voice that wouldn't overpower it. I thought the singer for this biopic was actually better than Aaliyah. I cringe whenever I hear "At Your Best." It's nails on a chalkboard. Of course, this didn't stop me from buying her albums and rockin the baggy jeans, some Tims, and midriff shirts.

 

I may be misremembering which red carpet/awards show this was, but I recall Aaliyah being interviewed by Joan Rivers, and when asked where her dress was from, she said something like, "Nothing special. It's from Express." I think it may have been the one portrayed on this biopic, maybe the same one where Neve Campbell butchered her name in her introduction.

 

This seemed like a very romanticized version of her life, where even something as creepy as that relationship, was darn near rainbows and butterflies. This was a hot mess.

Edited November 19, 2014 by anadyr21

[topanga]

I wouldn't say they were dialing back the creep factor exactly. I have no problem with the "but I love him, daddy!" stuff because that dialogue would fit with what a 15-year-old who thought she was in love with someone would say. However, I think the problem comes in with the way the script doesn't have a point of view. It's not that they were romanticizing their relationship. It's that they took no angle. There was no perspective, good or bad. You don't need to be heavy handed but you have to take a stand one way or the other to tell a story.

 

This. I saw an old episode of 106th and Park, and R. Kelly and Aaliyah were the guests. R. was introducing Aaliyah to the world, so I don't think they were married yet. But based on their body language, they definitely knew each other in the biblical sense. The host asked them if they were dating, and R. Kelly said they were just friends. "Best friends," Aaliyah added, and she sounded incredibly young and naïve.

 

Lifetime has no problem addressing the emotional impact of women being stabbed, raped, or shot with most of its original movies. But when the story is based on a real person (or even a novel), Lifetime makes the story as bland as possible. I wonder why.