Double Platinum (1999)

A soapy backstage melodrama originally produced for network broadcast, Double Platinum downplays show biz verisimilitude to turn on the tears. With '60s soul queen Diana Ross and '90s pop princess Brandy sharing production credit as well as billing, this formulaic tearjerker focuses on its stars' dramatic chops more than their musical prowess, a choice that won't deter their respective audiences, even as it disappoints less partisan music fans who might have hoped for a stronger musical component.

Olivia King (Ross) is the former St. Louis housewife who abandoned her family for pop stardom, only to return 18 years later determined to meet, and reconcile with, her daughter, Kayla (Brandy), now nurturing her own footlight fantasies. But when the prodigal mom finally does reveal herself to the bright, feisty teen, Kayla is outraged and then hard-boiled. Olivia's offer to help the undeniably talented girl make industry contacts is accepted, with the bitter caveat that the superstar should abandon any hopes of a true maternal bond with her embittered daughter. The usually imperious Olivia meekly accepts those terms, while the secretly yearning Kayla keeps up her tough-cookie cover, but the plot telegraphs its ultimate destination, even as the tears flow.

Both stars acquit themselves well in the story's stormier clashes, and the emotional tug of the story is well engineered to soak hankies. Less credulous viewers will be hampered by the original songs--when Ross steps on-stage, her regal demeanor and flashy (if occasionally silly) gowns support her supposed status as a legend, but the utterly forgettable, generic songs she mouths deflate that image. That said, viewers less interested in the actual music than the glitzy idea of the two characters may well be content to wallow in the waterworks of a story that could as easily have been titled Divas: The Next Generation. --Sam Sutherland Amazon.com

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double platinum

double platnium is one of the best movies i've ever seen. it has a magnifesent cast.brandy did a wonderful job playing kayla. also diana did a wonderful job playing olivia.this is a must see movie.i know i cried a few times. when i saw it i rented it a million times.then on my last birthday i got it.i've watched it another million times since.i also loved the songs that brandy and diana sang.like have you ever,almost doesn't count,love is all that matters,and happ. it is a wonderful drama.i loved that movie so much.i am so glad that they came out with that movie.also the cast. December 28, 2006

Double Platinum

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. Double Platinum was heartwarming as well as inspiring. Diana Ross is truly the consummate diva. She captures your attention whenever she walks out on a stage. The music made me cry, dance, think, and it made me want to sing. Yes, I ordered the CD, Every Day is a New Day! I have worn the grooves out of the CD and watched the movie three times. The duet with Diana Ross and Brandy was one of the highlights of the movie.I hope you will enjoy it as much as I have. August 5, 2006

Enjoyable Diana Ross Flick

Despite soul music legend, Diana Ross remaining one of the most successful female recording artist in history (a total of eighteen U.S number one hit titles to her credit) her movie career has never quite hit the heights of success as anticipated following her breathtaking performance as tortured Jazz legend, Billie Holiday in the oscar-nominated, Lady Sings The Blues (1972).

Following Lady Sings The Blues, Diana went on to star in the moderately successful, Mahogany (1975), The Wiz (1978) which was a hip, all-black version of The Wizard Of Oz (which subsequently bombed at the Box Office as well as enduring much ridicule from critics) whilst winning deserved and wide critical acclaim for her harrowing performance as a paranoid schitznophrenic in the devastating movie, Out Of Darkness (1993).
(Diana Ross also pursued an obsessive interest in playing the role of 1920's dancing legend, Josephine Baker who became the darling of Paris and was renowned for dancing topless, but sadly the role would later be taken by Lynne Whitfield in a T.V mini series adaptation, much to Ross' dismay).

In 1999, she starred alongside R&B teen sensation Brandy in Double Platinum which was directed by Robert Ackerman whom Diana Ross worked with closely (it's also clear that she was able to provide many of her own ad-libs throughout the film).

The plot of the movie unravels where Olivia (Diana Ross - the character is a mere imitation of the Ross mystique and legendary status) is a struggling lounge singer at a downtown nightclub who inadverently abandons her daughter Kayla (Brandy) to pursue her showbiz dreams.

Flash foward 18 years later and Olivia is now a superstar phenomenon to whom Kayla - who is still ignorant of her orgins and is embarking on her own singing career - goes to for advice. When Kayla finds out that Olivia is infact her mother she becomes bitter and almost vengeful and allows Olivia to introduce her to some useful contacts in the business though makes it blatantly clear that it's purley to further her own career and not to form any sort of mother-daughter bond as Olivia hopes.

Whilst certainly being somewhat predictable where the scripts certainly run through a fair few old-fashioned cliches, the film is firmly enhanced by the dramatic and on-screen presence of Diana Ross. Her heart is clearly in the role and carries the film so convincingly proving that she hadn't lost any of that dramatic power and dazzling on-screen presence that had made Lady Sings The Blues (1972) such an enduring success.

R&B singer, Brandy, puts in a likeable performance and the two stars enjoy a number of dramatically moving and impressivley powerful scenes together.

The film is a tear-jerker and though the ending is predictable, is still so heart-warming and encapsulates a genuine feel-good factor. The film closes with the two stars singing the sparkling, vibrant ballad, Love Is All That Matters (a solo version can be found on Diana Ross' 1999 studio entry, Everyday Is A New Day on which many tracks that she sings in this film are also featured).

A personal highlight of the film for me is her endearing performance of the gospel-flavoured, He Lives In You which she sings with style, conviction and verve, where she is backed by an extradionary South African choir and orchestra. Diana also proves she still hasn't lost any of that fire and sassiness from her earlier years and is still the dynamic diva when she performs the rip-roaring dance tune, Carry On, at the award ceremony sequences and belts the song out with all her heart and soul sounding like a true club mama in the process.

Double Platinum does career along at times like an extended soap opera and whilst critics argued that this is purely an old-fashioned tale that has been doen countless times before, it really is just a joy to see Diana Ross back on the screen who makes the most of her role, biting into it with a vengeance and displaying a raw, instinctive performance that is both credible and convincing.


Ian Phillips
June 14, 2006

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