I have seen many instances of this movie played on BET countless times, yet each time I always seem to catch it when it is right in the middle, or close to the end. Luckily, I happened to catch a full showing of the movie in one instance, and after watching it, definitely warranted a review that I do not see much of on this page.
Meagan Good, as always, is a pleasure to watch, though my qualms are more about the writing than the acting. While it may have been an interesting concept to make a movie about, the overall theme seemed very cliché and overused. Young girl who comes from a decent loving family decides to embark on a mouth-watering career that promises wealth and fame. Along the way, girl meets unscrupulous characters that steer her good natured ways to that of a darker nature. A couple of bad decisions later, usually drug-related and/or abusive partner, girl realizes this is not the life for her. Girl learns life lesson about herself and goes back to decent loving family. Again, cliché and overused. Then again, it is always interesting to see how different versions of the same concept are tackled by different writers/directors/actors.
When it comes to actual production, I am usually most critical, as this is an aspect of film making I enjoy the most. Camera work can only be described as moderately decent. I agree with another reviewer on this part...why they chose hand-held instead of staying on sticks is also something i am dumbfounded by. It worked for some scenes...some being the key word. Also, as an audience member, when a scene is supposed to imply flashy and glamorous, I don't usually expect it to look so dull and monotone. That's where the lighting for me failed to meet my expectations of certain scenes. Probably depends on what camera they were using. Audio wise, meh. For a budget of 5 million dollars, I'm sure they could have afforded some ADR work. The editing was a pass or play here. The music was sometimes not necessary in some scenes.
Overall, the movie was interesting to watch. It made it's point that being a Video Girl sometimes is not what it's cut out to be. Actually, I shouldn't just say Video Girl, as in , breaking out in the industry as a beautiful young naive girl can be very dangerous if you have not mentally and physically prepared yourself for the demands of being in the spotlight. That's why this movie gets a 5.0 in my books.
On another note, I had a friend of mine tell me, "Geez, so that's the atmosphere on a music video set, is it? Glad I don't work in the music video industry". I just want to point out that everything that happened in this movie was meant to serve the plot, and doesn't necessarily happen in reality. I have produced and directed music videos for big name stars for quite a while now, and never have I had an instance on my set where anybody was disrespectful of anybody. In fact, not that I like to brag, but my sets are always described as a fun place to be. Everybody treats each other like family, and the talent is always quick to notice this. So for any aspiring people wanting to work in the music video business, it's quite fun actually.
So, Next up to see is Dysfunctional Friends...another movie that the gorgeous Meagan Good is in. Let's see how she fares in that one.
