Sometimes hitting the multiplex just isn’t in the cards. That’s when cable, the web and streaming step in to provide an instant movie fix. But how to separate the wheat from the chaff? I’m happy to help; every week I’ll pick a flick and see if it’s worth your time. This week? “For Colored Girls”.

The Story: Based on the award-winning play For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf, by Ntozake Shange, it’s a story of several women whose lives intersect.  Rich, poor, married, single, saint and sinner, they all come together to show the difficulties of being an African-American woman.  This is no pleasure cruise; the topics touch on abortion, rape, promiscuity, abuse, neglect and murder.  But Shange’s beautiful prose delivers hope for a better day through the strength of friendship and sisterhood.

The Good:  Shange, Shange, Shange.  Her words don’t just hit your ears, they grab ‘em and demand that you listen.  They’re so gorgeous I almost wanted to pause the film several times just to take them in.  The all-star cast in this film seems to know how important it is to give these words their all, and they deliver amazing performances.  It’s hard to pick just one or two for special mention because they’re all so moving, but what had me sit up and take notice was Thandie Newton as a sexually promiscuous woman who covers up her uncertainty with pride so thick you could cut it with a knife.  Hollywood really needs to see this performance, and give this woman more, and better roles.  Immediately would be good.  Kimberly Elise’s performance as an assistant that tries to hide the abuse she suffers at the hands of her PTSD-suffering husband runs the gamut of emotions in this role, and nails every single one of them.  Who says there’s no good roles for women anymore?

The Bad:  Good roles, yes.  Good films?  Well not this one.  And it’s heartbreaking to see such amazing performances gone to waste.  It’s hard to be mad at Tyler Perry for attempting to bring to the screen such a moving play, but he’s bitten off more than he can chew here.  The original play’s structure doesn’t quite translate in this film, leaving some scenes feeling heavy-handed and obvious, and others feeling like glimpses into another, better film.  When the characters suddenly stop conversing with each other and spout soliloquies?  It’s difficult to hold on to the story, and the speeches sound pompous, out-of-place, and worst of all, silly.  If Perry had picked one form and stuck with it, this film could have been his master work.  As it is, it’s a half-baked idea that loses steam in all the wrong places, and that’s a shame.

The Everything Else:  Perry gets big points for attempting to bring this beautiful, heart-wrenching play to the masses.  But it’s a failed effort whose moments of greatness only serve to remind viewers of how this movie utterly fails as a whole.  Looking on the bright side, at least now I have a movie I can reference whenever anyone asks me if I’ve ever seen a bad movie with amazing performances.  For Colored Girls has the number one spot on that list in the bag.

Here’s the breakdown:
Would I watch it again?: No.  As brilliant as the performances are, the mash-up of honest character interaction and monologues that sound in no way like real speech?  Pass.
Should you see it?: Try to see if you can track down the filmed version of the play from American Playhouse, or just read Ntozake Shange’s amazing words, and let your mind be your movie.
Netflix average rating: 3 ½ Stars
My rating: 2 Stars

Happy times all right! Who doesn’t get fuzzy with the overly used up plot device of inevitable world destruction by some random natural disaster? If you don’t, then Ronald Emmerich did not hear you one bit thanks to the creation of his latest disaster piece (possibly in more ways than one) 2012. Starring the likes of John Cusack, Thandie Newton, Danny Glover and others, it looks like every other Hollywood actor they can get their hands on will take part of the newest rehashed version of the end of the world. Don’t believe me? Then check out the trailer below!

Ronald Emmerichs’ 2012 Movie Trailer

Wonderful enough for you? Think it should cave into the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean? Let us know what you think! With the help of the people of Sony Pictures Entertainment, 2012 will come out on November 13th.