This film tells the sad story of Dorothy Dandridge, an African-American woman who was the first to be nominated for a Best Actress Oscar. She had much promise as an actress and nightclub singer, but (and I hope I'm not spoiling anything) an unhappy personal life led to a dependence on pills and booze, which destroyed her career and eventually her life. The movie tells her story in a pretty striaght-forward way. Halle Berry delivers a solid performance as Dandridge. Despite how sad it seems, however, there are supposed to be some exciting parts, such as Dandridge's nightclub scenes, in which she's supposed to sizzle. Berry doesn't sizzle very much, and in her speaking scenes has to grapple with a very obvious script. She manages pretty well, but she and the whole movie just lack oomph! There's really nothing more than meets the eye here. It's pretty one-dimensional and flat, if still very sad.
Review of Introducing Dorothy Dandridge
