9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Moving Tribute to a Living Legend!!, October 24, 2004
This review is from: Little Richard (DVD)
The Little Richard Story is a credible account of the man who, more than any other individual artist, erased the word "race-music" and created popular music. Although only a small part of his life and 55 year (and still counting) career was highlighted, the DVD really captures the essence of the man - the battle between his faith in the Lord and the temptations of the world, and the development of the most important musical art form of the twentieth century - rock music. Leon is amazing in the title role, bringing to the screen the attractive, sensual black musician with the raspy, force-of-nature voice, that racist parents in America fought so hard (and so unsuccessfully) to keep from their children's senses. If you love rock, r&b or rap, and are interested in the roots of the music (the black church), this DVD is a must to add to your collection.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Enough With The Pancake 31!, December 19, 2002
By A Customer
Little Richard had been talking about a movie of his life as far back as 1962. Around the time of his critically acclaimed *book* biography, "The Life & Times of Little Richard" (Charles White, Crown, New York), he mentioned Michael Jackson, Prince, or Eddie Murphy as his celluloid self. About fifteen years later Leon got the job. I'm not familiar with the gentleman's work, but I strongly believe that he did the best possible job of all. Murphy would have been great if the story took us into the late '60s/early '70s, but the younger actor managed to capture the "soul" of the early Penniman, as he achieved worldwide fame on his first major record release, and nearly saw it taken away, or at least tarnished by unfair competition and by a perfectly legal but unfair recording contract. And by his own offstage indulgence. By the way, if you look at the 45 rpm picture cover of LR's "Ooh! My Soul"/"True, Fine Mama" you'd think for a second that it was this actor. The resemblance actually does help here.
In some ways we can compare Richard's biopic with Jerry Lee Lewis' biopic. They both disappointed the deep fan, the historian, but served the purpose of introducing a Legend to those who knew very little about them. The movies got alot of folks interested. "Little Richard" wins out by the strength of the acting.
Those who read the Charles White book need to (almost) forget the book while they watch the movie. There's a large amount of distortion and exaggeration. There's a certain amount of invention: "By The Light of the Silvery Moon" was his first RCA release, complete with *1956* arrangement? - okay...Tutti Frutti" was recorded in 1953? - it may have been first *performed* in 1953, but it sure wasn't recorded that year! (In record business years, *two* years is like two lifetimes!) The lady companion he found after his fame was named...Lucille? More than one source mention a free-spirit named Lee Angel.
Ofcourse most musical biographies exaggerate to make the "story" work. Too bad, however, that in this case we have an incredibly influential musical genius portrayed as an incredibly influential gender-bending eccentric who sent the kids into orbit. How about a minute or two on how he changed the way music sounded and the way musicians performed? In short, the movie is too image conscious.
Another concern is in the portrayal of two Richard contemporaries, Sam Cooke and Pat Boone. Cooke, who was a very close friend of Richard and who wrote for him in the early '60s, for some reason gets a disparaging comment in the dialogue, and Boone, the good Country ballad singer/poor Rock and Roll singer who ofcourse recorded third-rate covers of LR's first two classics, is shown in a crass split-screen: the great "Long Tall Sally" versus the terrible "cover version" as Pat struggles with the intricacies of the composition at a studio mike.
Altogether the real Little Richard did a fine job as Executive Producer. Just like in his recording career, whenever he took the reins as Producer, or Co-Producer, we got something special.
Strangely, however, just as critics and fans have neglected his most important contributions over the years, the Architect himself seems to have gotten caught up in the same confusion.
[Longtime fans and historians note that the soundtrack recording of "Take My Hand, Precious Lord" and an unidentified folk/work song are *new*].
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Little Richard, March 9, 2010
This review is from: Little Richard (DVD)
Personally I'm a big fan of Little Richard and I really enjoyed this TV movie about his life. I've heard all of his recordings, I've read the book and I've even met the Man. But in all the reviews I've read, one thing has been missing. I own the Artisan DVD release listed on Amazon. The DVD itself, the liner notes in the case, and the Amazon listing have the time listed at 120 minutes. My Artisan DVD release only plays at ~ 88 minutes. Am I missing something?
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