The producers and writer-director Gina Prince-Bythewood seem to be under the impression that their film Beyond the Lights offers some kind of revelatory inside look at the music industry in telling its romantic tale of a music superstar who comes to grips with her life’s priorities. But truly, the movie is a mass of clichés from beginning to end, complete with a pushy stage mother, a successful but unhappily coddled star who is so removed from the real world that she’s unaware what’s important in life, and the average Joe who brings her back down to earth. A wily viewer with even minimal experience with this kind of show biz backstage romance knows where this movie is going a quarter hour into it, and watching it plod its way through all the expected events in rather lockstep fashion is rather disheartening.
Studio: Fox
Distributed By: N/A
Video Resolution and Encode: 1080P/AVC
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HDMA
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
Rating: Not Rated, PG-13
Run Time: 1 Hr. 56 Min.
Package Includes: Blu-ray, UltraViolet
keep case in a slipcoverDisc Type: BD50 (dual layer)
Region: A
Release Date: 02/24/2015
MSRP: $39.99
The Production Rating: 2.5/5
The script by director Gina Prince-Bythewood hits all the expected beats concerning both show biz and fractured romance: from the overly sexualized music videos and live performances that Noni begins gradually to resist being a part of to the break-ups and make-ups between the two leading players as they work their way uneasily toward making her a performer she herself can respect (which involves reinventing her look and her approach to music: much too simplistically handled in the movie for believability) while Kaz’s political ambitions seem to take a backseat in the final analysis, something that makes the ludicrous fairy tale ending sweet and soulful but is also completely antiseptic. Because we aren’t offered a backstory on how Noni got to the desperate place we find her on her night of awards triumph, we must take it for granted that her mother’s unending pushiness and ambition for her daughter has destroyed her soul over time (though watching her rise to stardom might have been interesting), but it would have been nice to have gotten some discussion about that problem between the two of them. Kaz continually insists to anyone who’ll listen: mother, record producer and executives that Noni needs help, but she only mentions at the film’s climax that she’s getting help without any specifics. Gina Prince-Bythewood takes her camera into some interesting places, sometimes setting it at a distance and almost eavesdropping on Noni and Kaz at their most vulnerable moments. Kaz’s first airplane flight and their idyllic sojourn to Mexico to escape the paparazzi are nicely directed sequences that humanize the leading characters, but the clichés in the characters and relationships far outweigh moments of stylish élan that pop up here and there.
Gugu Mbatha-Raw who made such a positive impression in Belle repeats that impressive acting technique here even though she’s dealing with the melodramatic, formulaic writing that she must overcome through sheer force of will. She does her own singing, too, impressing in the faux-hits that have been written for the movie as well as with the lovely “Blackbird” in an impressive a capella rendition. Nate Parker has the looks and physique to be an effective leading man, but the role has been given far fewer showy moments, and he often fades into the background in scenes with her even though they certainly have chemistry together. Minnie Driver is unquestionably dynamic in the stereotypical stage mother guise, and Danny Glover as Kaz’s equally domineering parental unit makes a lesser impression in general. As the rap star involved in a label-induced romance with Noni, Richard Colson Baker seems the real deal: a sleazy egomaniacal celebrity whose hubris can’t tolerate a public rejection. Darryl Stephens as a bullying record executive is given only a one dimensional character to perform. Though she doesn’t resemble star Gugu Mbatha-Raw in the least, India Jean-Jacques as the 10-year old Noni shows us a fresh-faced youngster dominated by her barracuda of a mother who won’t accept anything but a champion.
Video Rating: 4.5/5 3D Rating: NA
Audio Rating: 4.5/5
Special Features Rating: 3.5/5
Director’s Cut (HD): available from the main menu; this was the version viewed for the purposes of this review. The language is a bit rawer and views of sex and skin is a bit more graphic than in the PG-13 theatrical cut.
Deleted Scenes (6:05, HD): five scenes may be viewed separately or in montage and with optional commentary by the aforementioned three ladies.
Escape to Mexico 2.0 (1:53, HD): the alternative Mexican montage featuring the song “I’m Gonna Love You My Way.”
Changing the Conversation (4:58, HD): stars Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Nate Parker, Minnie Driver, and Colson Baker as well as writer-director Gina Prince-Bythewood and producers Reggie Rock Bythewood and Stephanie Allain offer sound bites about making the film and its roots in the rock music scene.
Gary Theard: Boom Man (4:28, HD): a tribute to the late boom mike master Gary Theard whose last film this was. Sound mixer Willie D. Burton and director Gina Prince-Bythewood pay the tribute.
“Masterpiece” Music Video (3:24, HD): performed by Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Colson Baker.
Theatrical Trailer (1:46, HD)
Promo Trailers (HD): Black and White, The Best of Me, Hector and the Search for Happiness, Belle.
Ultraviolet: code sheet enclosed in the case
Overall Rating: 3/5
Reviewed By: Matt Hough
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