Glitter (film)
Glitter is a 2001 American romantic musical drama film starring Mariah Carey, Terrence Howard and Max Beesley, written by Kate Lanier, and directed by Vondie Curtis Hall. Carey plays Billie Frank, an aspiring singer who, along with her friends Louise (rapper Da Brat) and Roxanne (Tia Texada), is a club dancer. Timothy Walker (Terrence Howard) offers them a contract as backup singers/dancers to another singer. At the premiere of the song they record, Billie meets Julian "Dice" Black (Max Beesley), a nightclub DJ, who helps her in her solo career. In the process, Billie and Dice fall in love.
Glitter
Jeff Freeman
- Mariah Carey
- Terence Blanchard
- 20th Century Fox (North America)
- Columbia TriStar Film Distributors International (international)
- September 21, 2001
104 minutes[1]
United States
English
$22 million[2]
$5.3 million[2]
Carey began working on a film and soundtrack project titled All That Glitters in 1997. However, during that period, her label Columbia Records pressured her to release a compilation album in time for the holiday season in November 1998. Consequently, Carey put All That Glitters on hold. Following this, she aimed to complete the film and album project for the summer of 2001. Shooting began in Toronto and New York at the end of September 2000. Carey used the time to work on the soundtrack of the film, along with Eric Benét and Da Brat, who also appeared in the film. Before its release, Carey was suddenly hospitalized, citing "extreme exhaustion" and a "physical and emotional breakdown". Due to this, the film and soundtrack release were both postponed for three weeks. The film was released on September 21, 2001, ten days after the release of the accompanying soundtrack on September 11, 2001.
Glitter was heavily panned by critics and audiences and was a box-office bomb. Reviewers were highly disappointed with the film, and Carey's performance as an actress was widely panned, earning her a Golden Raspberry Award for worst actress. This also caused the film to receive negative commentary on social media sites, with Carey herself later admitting that she regretted being part of the film. Some went on to call it one of the worst films ever made. Glitter opened in 1,996 American theaters, and grossed $2.5 million in its first week, with a worldwide total of $5.3 million. The soundtrack of the film achieved moderate commercial success and went on to sell over two million copies worldwide, considerably less than Carey's previous releases.
Plot[edit]
In the 1970s, Lillian Frank is a performer at a nightclub. Lillian tries to rouse the crowd with her torch song, "Lillie's Blues", with her daughter Billie accompanying her on vocals. The plot fails and Lillian is fired. A defeated Lillian lights a cigarette, but then accidentally falls asleep, starting a fire and causing the building to be evacuated. Due to her mother's actions, Billie is taken into a care home.
Years later, in 1983, the adult Billie is a club dancer along with her foster-care friends Louise and Roxanne. They meet record producer Timothy Walker, who offers them a contract as backup singers and dancers to famous singer Sylk. Later at a nightclub hosted by Julian "Dice" Black, Sylk debuts "All My Life". Dice discovers that Billie is the real singer of the song, as a means to cover up Sylk's abysmal singing ability. Impressed, he wishes to produce her but Billie raises concerns about her contract with Timothy and he eventually agrees on the provision that Dice pays him $100,000.
Billie and Dice start working on songs, and ultimately sign with Guy Richardson of a major record label. With success in their hands, they go out for dinner and have passionate sex in his apartment. Billie's first major single, "Loverboy", is a success, and she performs at an awards ceremony, where she meets singer Rafael. Billie is threatened by Timothy on the debt that Dice failed to pay. Upset with how Dice lied about her contract, Billie leaves him and collaborates with several songwriters, including Rafael, with whom she makes another hit single, "Want You", and her debut album becomes a massive success.
Billie begins writing a song on her own, due to her emotional pain. Dice also misses Billie, and also begins writing a song. Billie goes to Dice's apartment to reconcile with him but discovers he is not home. She discovers the music he has written and realizes they wrote the same song, "Never Too Far", and kisses his music sheet. Dice, upon seeing her lipstick prints on the sheet, plans a reconciliation but is shot dead by Timothy. Before playing at Madison Square Garden, a devastated Billie sees the news report of Dice's death, and onstage after, commands the band to stop playing "Loverboy". She tearfully tells the audience not to take the ones they love for granted, and she then performs "Never Too Far" as a tribute to Dice. Afterward, Billie reads a note Dice had left her, where he tells her that he loves her and that he has found Lillian. Billie's limo takes her to the secluded rural property where she is happily reunited with her mother.