Customer Reviews

Double Platinum [VHS]

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Despite Soul music legend Diana Ross remaining the most successful female recording artist of all time (a total of eighteen U.S No. 1 hit titles to her credit) her movie career has not quite hit the heights of success it has often deserved though received an oscar nomination for her dynamic and powerful performance as Jazz/Blues legend Billie Holiday in Lady Sings The Blues (1972). Since then shes appeared in the moderatley successful Mahogany (1975), The Wiz (1978) which was a commercial failure and deservedly won wide praise for her harrowing performance as a paranoid schitznophrenic in the acclaimed T.V movie, Out Of Darkness (1993). In Double Palatinum she starred alongside Teen R&B sensation Brandy. The story goes that 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 abandons her daughter Kayla (Brandy) to pursue her showbiz dreams. Flash foward 18 years later and Olivia is now a massive star 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 agrees to let Olivia introduce her to some useful contacts in the business and makes it clear that its purley to further hrown career and not to form a mother-daughter bond as Olivia hopes. Whilst being a predicatable story and the scripts certainly run through a fair few cliches, the film is saved by the dramatic and convincing performance of Diana Ross. Her heart is clearly in the role and she carries the film convincingly proving that she hadn't lost any of that dramatic acting power and dazzling on-screen presence that made Lady Sings The Blues such a success. Brandy also puts in a likeable performance and the two stars enjoy a number of dramtically moving scenes. A tear-jerking movie that has a predictable but lovely ending. Diana Ross and Brandy perform many songs off their current studio albums of the time and Diana Ross' performs the exciting He Lives In You with style and verve, backed by an effective South African orchestra and gospel-influenced backing singers. She also proves shes still a dynamic diva as she performs the rip-roaring dance number, Carry On during the awards ceremony sequences. Both Diana and Brandy perform a touching, sparkling ballad at the climax of the movie, Love Is All That Matters which closes the movie beautifully. This T.V movie often careers along like a soap opera and whilst you could argue that this is purley an old-fashioned tale thats been done countless times before, its such a joy to see Diana Ross back on the screen who makes the most of her role, biting into it with a venegance and displaying a raw, instinctive performance, proving her undoubted wide range of abilities. Fans of these two singers will most certainly be enthralled by both the film and its accompanying soundtrack. Defintley worth a look.

For starters, The movie is in Full Screen. Although it was also in Full Screen on ABC, it was filmed in Widescreen, Region 2 in The UK has a full Screen DVD.

Back to the movie, Double Platinum is about singer Olvia King (Ross) Who chooses to leave her husband and newborn for a record deal. Years later when Kayla (Norwood) is a Teen, Kayla wins a Radio contest to meet Olivia, unknown they are mother and daughter where Olivia announces she's Kaylas mom and helps Kayla also become a star.

While The movie it's self is a great story, The music used is all from Brandy's 1998 Album "Never say never" and Ross' 1999 Album "Every day is a new day". the main problem with the movie is way too much lip syncing goes on
Given the fact that some scenes they're supposed to be performing live and recording the songs in the studio, an effort could have been made to make it seem more realistic.
Other than that, It's a must have for Brandy And Diana Ross Fans because it's a good movie. It just should have been in wide screen and feature more live singing

This was not the movie of the year, not bad but not good, it was okay. The story is du "Dejas-vu", very cliché. The acting performance of Diana Ross was good, it seem real, more then the one of Brandy but Brandy was not so bad. Their performance as a singner were both great, good music in this movie. If you are a fan of Diana Ross or Brandy you may love the movie, for others it's just a nice simple movie.

I finally bought this film and sat down to watch it hoping, deep in my heart, that it'd be at least half as good as claimed in the above posted reviews. You see, I always admired Diana Ross and believe her to be a very talented actress when given the right vehicle to display her wares. However, I am sorry to report that "Double Platinum" is not what we fans have been waiting for since "Lady Sings The Blues." This is just a low-budget made-for-TV movie with a predictable script, over the top melodrama and uncomfortable performances by all involved, specially Miss Ross.

I guess the producers of "Double Platinum" just wanted to have an excuse to introduce the legendary Diana to the Brandy generation. Or maybe it was just a blind attempt to unite two top names of the music industry hoping for a quick blockbuster. Whatever the intentions it doesn't work. Physically it is impossible to believe that the younger singer could have been mothered by the Supreme lady. Meanwhile the script does not allow anybody to behave naturally or cohesively which only adds to the feeling you are watching a falsehood from beginning to end. The music? No big deal. Wardrobe? Low-budget. But what I found truly upsetting was Miss Ross mouth and teeth. Whatever happened to her luminous smile that brightened my youth? Painful.

I enjoyed this movie, mainly because I really like Diana Ross and Brandy, and the music was sensational. However, I think the movie could have been done a little better. Everything happened too fast, and there were too many unanswered questions. Does Kayla get to be 18 years old and not even know her mother's name? Olivia's secretary comments on the fact that Olive has an entire file on Kayla and who her friends are, etc., and yet Olivia tells Kayla that her father never let her find her. So--where did the file come from? Where did Rick get his information on Olivia and Kayla to give to the tabloids? He didn't appear to be intelligent enough on his own to make the connection, since nobody else did.

In spite of it, the music made the movie worthwhile. Hope to see more of Diana and Brandy--their voices are beautiful together!

Being perhaps the ultimate Diana Ross fan I will admit i was strongly biased towards liking this movie. And I did. But on second and third viewings I found myself enjoying it just as much as I had the first time. Diana Ross is well, Diana Ross here, but she's also an acting talent to be reckoned with. She makes Olivia King an all-too-human, dimensional character pushing all the right emotional buttons. Her scenes with Brandy have a real emotional tension to them. Definitely makes one wonder why she hasn't had more of an acting career. She really is good here, objectively speaking.
I will admit to not being much of a Brandy fan before the film, and while I'm still not president of her fan club she won a lot of points with me here. She's a surprisingly good actress who holds her own with the formidable Diana.
And let's not forget the music. First rate all the way. Both dramatically and musically Diana and Brandy have done themselves proud in this outing. I recommend this movie wholeheartedly.

When I first heard about the movie, Double Platinum, I was a bit reluctant to watch it, as I knew it was a movie that was specially made for TV, and I have been disappointed by a lot of made-for-TV movies in the past, but I was pleasantly surprised with this one.

Diana Ross and Brandy are both wonderful in this movie and you couldn't picture anyone else playing their roles. As mentioned in the main review, the story revolves around Olivia King (played by Diana Ross)who chooses to leave St. Louis and go to New York in order to better pursue her career of becoming a singer. As a result, she leaves her baby daughter, Kayla (played by Brandy) behind.

18 years later, Kayla wins a competition to meet Olivia, whom she doesn't know is her mum(and is one of her biggest fans) and from there the story progresses. The movie revolves around Olivia and her amibition to get to know the daughter she never knew, by helping her start her own career as a singer. From there, the viewer goes through the highs and lows as seen through the eyes of the two characters and by the end of the movie you will believe that love is all that matters.

Fans of Brandy will recognise the songs, "Almost Doesn't Count" and "Have You Ever" during the course of the movie. For me, the main highlight was both Brandy and Diana Ross singing "Love Is All That Matters" at the end of the movie.

It's a very heart-warming, feel-good film that is worth buying. You won't regret it!

Both Miss Ross and Brandy give strong performances and the musical productions are entertraining in themselves. Harvey should have had a bigger part though. A must-have for any Ross or Norwood fan!

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

Double Platinum was filmed in Widescreen even though it was a made for tv movie. the region 2 PAL dvd in the UK is Widescreen. Re-release this dvd in widescreen