Let It Shine (film)
Let It Shine is a 2012 American musical television film that premiered on Disney Channel. It features an ensemble cast of Tyler James Williams, Coco Jones, Trevor Jackson and Brandon Mychal Smith. The film follows a shy, talented rapper and musician who pens romantic hip hop verses only to stand idly by as they're delivered to the girl of his dreams, Roxie Andrews, by his best friend, in a retelling of Edmond Rostand's 1897 play Cyrano de Bergerac. The film was directed by Paul Hoen and written by Eric Daniel and Don D. Scott. The Disney Channel Original Movie premiered on June 15, 2012 in the United States and Canada, and July 20, 2012 in the United Kingdom and Ireland.[1]
Let It Shine
Story by
Eric Daniel
Teleplay by
Eric Daniel
Don D. Scott
United States
English
Amy Gibbons
Paul Hoen
David A. Makin
Girish Bhargava
104 minutes
GWAVE Productions
June 15, 2012
Plot[edit]
Fifteen-year-old Cyrus DeBarge is a talented choir director in Atlanta, Georgia, who writes rap lyrics under the pseudonym "Truth" because of his father Pastor Jacob's disapproval of rap music and his shy demeanor compared to his more outgoing best friend Kris McDuffy. Cyrus secretly works as a busboy at a club, "Off the Street", where the music label of their childhood friend, teenage singing sensation Roxanne "Roxie" Andrews, is sponsoring a songwriting contest. Roxie chooses Truth's song "Don't Run Away" as the winning entry but misidentifies Kris as Truth because the photo Cyrus submitted was of them both. Kris convinces Cyrus to let him keep the credit because he has feelings for Roxie. As Kris uses Cyrus' verses to get closer to both Roxie and his newfound fame, Cyrus begins to resent his friend.
As Cyrus and Roxie get to know each other, she says she can talk to him better than she can talk to Kris. Cyrus invites her to perform with the choir at his church. After their performance, Jacob humiliates Roxie in front of the congregation by condemning people living in "hip-hop-crisy". His wife Gail persuades Jacob to apologize to Roxie at the club, where he catches his son working and learns that Cyrus writes rap lyrics. At first, he's furious and grounds him, but Jacob comes to realize his son's raps carry positive messages and lifts his punishment.
The conflict between Cyrus and Kris comes to a head in a physical altercation. Club owner Levi convinces them not to let their friendship die. During a duet with Roxie, Cyrus takes Kris' place on the stage to sing "Me and You", revealing that he was Truth all along. Cyrus apologizes but Roxie storms from the stage wanting nothing to do with either of them. At a rapping challenge, Cyrus calls out arrogant rapper Lord of Da Bling. Cyrus wins the trophy by revealing to the audience that Bling is a fraud, having seen him the previous week working his day job as a taxi driver.
Kris tells Roxie that Cyrus is a great person and only pretended he was not Truth for Kris. He says Cyrus is real and the one she needs to be with. Roxie goes to the church and hugs Cyrus as they sing "Let it Shine".
Production[edit]
The movie's soundtrack features 13 original songs by acclaimed music producers/songwriters/performers Rock Mafia, Toby Gad, David Banner, Andy Dodd, In-Q, Adam Hicks, Lindy Robbins, Dapo Torimiro, Thomas Sturges, Jon Vella and Adam Watts.
The movie was shot in Atlanta and Marietta, Georgia.[2] The DVD was released on August 7, 2012.
Reception[edit]
The premiere of Let It Shine garnered 5.7 million viewers,[3] the high cable rating of the day, and obtained an adult 18–49 rating of 0.9, second only to Family Guy. It was the most watched Disney Channel Original Movie to that point of 2012 and was the #1 movie of the year across kids 6–11, tweens and teens.[4] The Rap Battle Edition, which aired on June 30, was watched by 4.54 million people.[5]