![]() ![]() But she has never really gotten anywhere professionally. Her older sister, known as Sister (Ejogo), back home following a divorce, is magnetic and sensuous onstage, and she has a voice, too. ![]() ![]() Sparkle (Sparks) is a natural songwriter but shy as a performer. "Sparkle" takes place in mid-'60s Detroit, where three daughters live in a house with their mother (Houston), a former wild woman who amended her ways to become a devout Christian. She leaves nothing out, holds nothing back. For an actress, this was the opportunity of a lifetime, and Ejogo plays it that way. Here she has what is nominally the supporting role, except that she sings a half dozen songs to Sparks' two, and her role is the focus of the drama. It's rare to see someone become a movie star right before your eyes, but that's what happens with Ejogo in "Sparkle." She has apparently been making feature films for 15 years, but always in small or smallish parts. If there is any justice, Ejogo will become very famous very soon. Instead they will be saying, "Who was that?" And they'll be referring to Carmen Ejogo, who plays Sparks' older sister. Yet when all is said and done, I suspect that very few people will walk out of "Sparkle" talking about either Sparks or Houston, at least not at first. But mostly it's just a pleasure to receive this unexpected gift, to hear Houston tear into a gospel number and to witness the maturity and the gravity that she brings to the role of a single mother raising three daughters. Inevitably, there are moments sprinkled throughout that will remind you of Houston's life and ultimate fate, as when Mom - a woman who almost made it as a singer - says that the music business almost killed her. "Sparkle" also has the advantage of the late Whitney Houston, who plays Sparks' mother. Sparks' strengths include not just a powerful voice but also a radiant niceness, and that becomes part of the story. But "Sparkle" was made by smart people who built on their star's strengths, accounted for her weaknesses and didn't lean on her to carry the whole picture. "American Idol" winner Jordin Sparks makes her movie debut in "Sparkle," and just that much - that half sentence - will probably keep a number of people from reading what follows. Starring Jordin Sparks, Carmen Ejogo and Whitney Houston. ![]()
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