kevjfarrell OK firstly, this isn't an accurate portrayal of the life of Billie Holiday. But despite that, this movie is very worthwhile. The actual story is part factual for many performers in this field. Don't let your personal views of Diana Ross cloud her debut acting performance. A very good effort - up there with some of the best actresses. Diana doesn't try to sound like Billie Holiday, but she's in her element as a torch song singer. This is Billie's life story adapted and dramatized to give the movie the best effect for its intended audience. Don't let that put you off seeing it. It is well worth a watch despite its inaccuracies and shortcomings. If you like music biographies, there's no reason you won't enjoy this unless Diana Ross really annoys you for whatever reason.

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.

momorguci Diana Ross gives in my opinion one of the top ten performances on screen in the last 50 years, possibly all time. It is that good. Fresh, daring, inventive, and highly influential her acting hasn't aged a bit. You BELIEVE she is Billie Holiday by the end of the film despite the heavy star persona that Diana Ross and Billie Holiday have respectively in real life. She doesn't go for a mimic, copycat performance but channels the essence of Holiday subtly. The acting is not over intellectualized or self conscious and never once hits a false note. The fact that the movie itself isn't very good and is wildly inaccurate in the portrayal of Holiday's life only seems to benefit Miss Ross. She lost the acadamy award to Minneli in Cabaret which was a charming performance but not even in the same league. Sadly, Miss Ross's promise as an actress did not pan out well due largely to poor role choices. Coming out of the Dark, her made for TV movie comeback owes a debt to this film. She basically rips herself off (yes, its true) as a manic schizophrenic channeling all the better breakdown scenes from Lady.

yusef67 I never quite understood the backlash this movie has received over the years. It amazes me when people always seek perfection. This movie is not perfect. But lets applaud what it does provide. A dynamic debut performance by Diana Ross, a memorable supporting performance by a young Richard Pryor. Great music and score by Michel Legrand. Great wardrobe worn by Ross in this movie.Any good film is made up of a few really good scenes. I can easily count 5 or 6 excellent scenes in this movie. #1-opening scene where they put a straight jacket on Ross and through her in a padded cell. #2-When she first lays eyes on Billy Dee and is carried out of the nightclub. #3- The "Good morning Heartache" scene at her birthday party at the club #4-The scene where she attacks Billy Dee in the bathroom, because he won't give her her dope #5- When Piano man is beaten to death #6-When she gets the call that her mother died,while she was in the middle of getting a fix..I COULD go on. People who dismiss this film for being standard Hollywood fare are really not doing this film justice. There is really nothing standard about it. It depicted several stages of the life of Lady Day..And as we know her life was anything but standard fare...