My Synopsis: From the very beginning this young girl Noni
(Gugu Mbatha-Raw) has been primed by her overbearing mother (Minnie Driver) for
stardom. The pressures of her success as she grows too become a successful young
artist comes at a cost when she attempts to take her own life. Luckily for her,
Kaz (Nate Parker) her bodyguard/police officer assigned to her at the time
comes to her rescue. There is an instant connection between Kaz and Noni,
however there is protest from concerned parties around them, fearing their
romance will come in the way of both their individual successes. Ultimately,
Kaz's devotion to Noni gives her the strength to find her inner voice and
become the artist she has always meant to be.
Director: Gina Prince-Bythewood
Producer(s): Stephanie Allain, Reggic Rock Bythewood, Ryan Kavanaugh
Writer: Gina Prince-Bythewood
Stars: Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Minnie Driver, Nate Parker, Danny Glover, Machine Gun Kelly
Genre: Romantic drama
MY PORTRAYAL OF THE MOVIE:
The next scene takes you forward many years. You see a very young woman dancing quite provocatively on screen, thrusting her body and performing for the camera. This turns out to be Noni and Kid Culprits (Machine Gun Kelly) music video which is played in the background of the Billboard Awards. After winning her first major music award she walks outside and is greeted by screaming fan. She has a big fancy apartment that she goes back too to unwind after all her shows, when she arrives at her room she requests the bodyguard/police officer (Nate Parker) at the door not to allow anyone else in after her. Her mother as always persuades the bodyguard to let her in, only to find her daughter in a compromising situation on the edge of the balcony. The bodyguard rushes to her aide after hearing her mothers’ scream. As Noni decides to throw herself of the balcony of her Beverly Hills Apartment hours after she wins her Billboard award, the bodyguard grabs her from falling, holds her up over the balcony, they lock eyes for a moment and he says something to her that gives her comfort and reassurance to live.
A press conference following Nonis' mere brush with death has sparked suicidal attempts which are quickly dismissed. However her mother or rather her ‘momager’ is fed up of her behaviour and promises her record label that the upcoming BET awards will shake off all the negative vibes and bring Noni to supernova status in the R&B world.
After Kazs’ heroic act, his father (Danny Glover) who is a police captain suggests he takes advantage of the situation to boost Kazs’ political campaign. Kaz on the other hand has an overwhelming sense of protection for Noni and makes his way to see her. Kaz and Noni get a change to have a moment alone and she decides to ditch her appointments with her mother to escape for the night with Kaz. The next morning Noni shows up at Kaz house asks him to chaperon her on her promotional obligations. She's goes through the meet and greets, charity visits, photos shoots, all the while Kaz standing in the background and her mother instructing her from the side lines whilst still on her phone texting away.
The next few scenes go from Noni surprising Kaz with a private flight to the BET awards, a red carpet arrival, to backstage where Noni gets ready to go on stage to perform her latest hit with Kid Culprit. This performance becomes quite dramatic as the rapper practically sexually assaults her on stage during the performance. Kaz comes to her aide once again and protects her. Her mother of course is utterly guttered by the outburst and thinks that Noni has ruined her reputation once again and more so with the record label.
After that incident Kaz decides Noni need to be taken away from all this just for a while, so they pack their bags and drive, they head to a beautiful and secluded bungalow in Mexico. Noni reveals her true self while she is there. She takes of the trademark purple extensions, the makeup and the music industry persona. She enjoys walking through the streets of Mexico where no one recognizes her. She goes to a local karaoke bar and enjoys the local talent, and finds the strength to get up on stage herself and once again perform her life song, Blackbirds by Nina Simone to which she performed with some much conviction and rawness it was very emotional to watch.
So back to their own lives. Kaz is back in the politic scene using the younger voters appeal. Noni and her momager are back at the record label negotiating her rights. Noni wants her own songs on the album so her mother throws a curve ball at management and gets what they want.
With everything seemingly going their way, Nonis’ mother admitted that her whole curve ball was not to get Noni her rights but as a payback to the former manager. This sparked a massive and intense argument between them. It’s the first time Noni takes charge of her life and unfortunately fires the person in her life that has brought her to where she is now.
Presumably weeks pass and Noni steps out on her own, she confronts the rumours, and embracing her true self for the first time in a long time in an on-air interview. She travels back home to perform at an open air concert where for she gets to finally perform her own song, declares her love for Kaz and all the while in a bittersweet ending her mother now no longer part of her success sits at her home listening to her daughter sing freely via speaker on her phone.
MY REVIEW:
This movie had great potential, it had all the elements to keep us interested, from self-image to suicide, music industry antics and politics, even a throw of a mixed-race relationship, and a journey of self-discovery. There were elements of the movie that were interesting and intense, and you can see where they were trying to go with it, however it just took too long to get there, it was quite slow at the beginning and I almost lost interest. Although as the movie progressed it certainly drew me in and it became quite in-depth as the movie continued.
I thought Minnie Driver and Nate Parker performed their roles extremely well. I enjoyed seeing the transformation and rawness in Gugu Mbatha-Raws' character unfold towards the end of the movie, I feel she embodied the character of Noni brilliantly.
It had all the cliché and predictable moments throughout in the movie, boy meets girl, they fall in love, they go through a hardship and then they live happily ever after. There were some scenes in the movie which made me think twice about the hidden message ie. The scene in which Kid Culprit and Noni walk on stage to accept their award, we see Noni walking behind Kid Culprit wearing an ensemble which looks very much like she is wearing shackles, giving me the impression there was a derogatory and misogynistic undertone message Prince-Byrthewood was trying to bring across.
The meaning behind the song 'Blackbird' by Nina Simone was what I believe the true reflection of the movie was about. A girl wants to show her true self but lacks the confidence she needed to allow herself to find her voice and be free to fly. Towards the end of the movie you can really see the connection and begin to understand the underlining message. My significant other thought it was quite a deep movie, maybe he was just distracted by Gugu Mbatha-Raw strutting her stuff in the earlier scenes. In the end I thought it made for good viewing. It’s definitely a movie to watch and decide for yourself.
Director: Gina Prince-Bythewood
Producer(s): Stephanie Allain, Reggic Rock Bythewood, Ryan Kavanaugh
Writer: Gina Prince-Bythewood
Stars: Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Minnie Driver, Nate Parker, Danny Glover, Machine Gun Kelly
Genre: Romantic drama
MY PORTRAYAL OF THE MOVIE:
The first scene you see mother (Minnie
Driver) and young daughter Noni (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) rush into a closing
hairdressers in desperate need of a haircut. Noni is singing in the contest the
next day and mother is desperate for her daughters’ hair to be done.
The next morning with her new
hairdo she steps out on stage and sings Blackbird by Nina Simone. Noni sings
this so well and at the end she comes second place! But her mother is furious
with the outcome asks Noni to destroy yet another runners up trophy. Do you
want to be a runner up or a winner?! She says.The next scene takes you forward many years. You see a very young woman dancing quite provocatively on screen, thrusting her body and performing for the camera. This turns out to be Noni and Kid Culprits (Machine Gun Kelly) music video which is played in the background of the Billboard Awards. After winning her first major music award she walks outside and is greeted by screaming fan. She has a big fancy apartment that she goes back too to unwind after all her shows, when she arrives at her room she requests the bodyguard/police officer (Nate Parker) at the door not to allow anyone else in after her. Her mother as always persuades the bodyguard to let her in, only to find her daughter in a compromising situation on the edge of the balcony. The bodyguard rushes to her aide after hearing her mothers’ scream. As Noni decides to throw herself of the balcony of her Beverly Hills Apartment hours after she wins her Billboard award, the bodyguard grabs her from falling, holds her up over the balcony, they lock eyes for a moment and he says something to her that gives her comfort and reassurance to live.
A press conference following Nonis' mere brush with death has sparked suicidal attempts which are quickly dismissed. However her mother or rather her ‘momager’ is fed up of her behaviour and promises her record label that the upcoming BET awards will shake off all the negative vibes and bring Noni to supernova status in the R&B world.
After Kazs’ heroic act, his father (Danny Glover) who is a police captain suggests he takes advantage of the situation to boost Kazs’ political campaign. Kaz on the other hand has an overwhelming sense of protection for Noni and makes his way to see her. Kaz and Noni get a change to have a moment alone and she decides to ditch her appointments with her mother to escape for the night with Kaz. The next morning Noni shows up at Kaz house asks him to chaperon her on her promotional obligations. She's goes through the meet and greets, charity visits, photos shoots, all the while Kaz standing in the background and her mother instructing her from the side lines whilst still on her phone texting away.
The next few scenes go from Noni surprising Kaz with a private flight to the BET awards, a red carpet arrival, to backstage where Noni gets ready to go on stage to perform her latest hit with Kid Culprit. This performance becomes quite dramatic as the rapper practically sexually assaults her on stage during the performance. Kaz comes to her aide once again and protects her. Her mother of course is utterly guttered by the outburst and thinks that Noni has ruined her reputation once again and more so with the record label.
After that incident Kaz decides Noni need to be taken away from all this just for a while, so they pack their bags and drive, they head to a beautiful and secluded bungalow in Mexico. Noni reveals her true self while she is there. She takes of the trademark purple extensions, the makeup and the music industry persona. She enjoys walking through the streets of Mexico where no one recognizes her. She goes to a local karaoke bar and enjoys the local talent, and finds the strength to get up on stage herself and once again perform her life song, Blackbirds by Nina Simone to which she performed with some much conviction and rawness it was very emotional to watch.
From this
though spills a media frenzy and
before she know it the paparazzi and her ‘momager’ are knocking at her door in Mexico. Minnie
Drivers character is probably the closest portrayal to a villain in this movie,
however her heart wrenching talk about how tough it was to be a white girl
raising a black baby in the public housing system in the end makes you see why
she did what she did for Noni.
Turns out her media exposure was
the best thing for Noni, she can finally have her say, continue to move forward
with her mother the way she has always wanted, unfortunately though she leaves
Kaz behind in Mexico.So back to their own lives. Kaz is back in the politic scene using the younger voters appeal. Noni and her momager are back at the record label negotiating her rights. Noni wants her own songs on the album so her mother throws a curve ball at management and gets what they want.
With everything seemingly going their way, Nonis’ mother admitted that her whole curve ball was not to get Noni her rights but as a payback to the former manager. This sparked a massive and intense argument between them. It’s the first time Noni takes charge of her life and unfortunately fires the person in her life that has brought her to where she is now.
Presumably weeks pass and Noni steps out on her own, she confronts the rumours, and embracing her true self for the first time in a long time in an on-air interview. She travels back home to perform at an open air concert where for she gets to finally perform her own song, declares her love for Kaz and all the while in a bittersweet ending her mother now no longer part of her success sits at her home listening to her daughter sing freely via speaker on her phone.
MY REVIEW:
This movie had great potential, it had all the elements to keep us interested, from self-image to suicide, music industry antics and politics, even a throw of a mixed-race relationship, and a journey of self-discovery. There were elements of the movie that were interesting and intense, and you can see where they were trying to go with it, however it just took too long to get there, it was quite slow at the beginning and I almost lost interest. Although as the movie progressed it certainly drew me in and it became quite in-depth as the movie continued.
I thought Minnie Driver and Nate Parker performed their roles extremely well. I enjoyed seeing the transformation and rawness in Gugu Mbatha-Raws' character unfold towards the end of the movie, I feel she embodied the character of Noni brilliantly.
It had all the cliché and predictable moments throughout in the movie, boy meets girl, they fall in love, they go through a hardship and then they live happily ever after. There were some scenes in the movie which made me think twice about the hidden message ie. The scene in which Kid Culprit and Noni walk on stage to accept their award, we see Noni walking behind Kid Culprit wearing an ensemble which looks very much like she is wearing shackles, giving me the impression there was a derogatory and misogynistic undertone message Prince-Byrthewood was trying to bring across.
The meaning behind the song 'Blackbird' by Nina Simone was what I believe the true reflection of the movie was about. A girl wants to show her true self but lacks the confidence she needed to allow herself to find her voice and be free to fly. Towards the end of the movie you can really see the connection and begin to understand the underlining message. My significant other thought it was quite a deep movie, maybe he was just distracted by Gugu Mbatha-Raw strutting her stuff in the earlier scenes. In the end I thought it made for good viewing. It’s definitely a movie to watch and decide for yourself.
Regards, S
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