The Bobby DeBarge Story

If you're from that era (70s-80s) I believe you'll like the movie more for your memories of the DeBarge's (Bobby, Switch, El,...) will carry you through. I watched the entire movie in almost one sitting, which means it kept my interest. And yes some of the actors weren't Oscar Worthy:) and though the clothing, hair, and vehicles too were accurate those wigs looked like OUR actual hair back then AFTER you awoke after an allnight bender:) And I must have forgotten James (DeBarge) went full BarKays with his hair back then:)

The poster(s) that suggested this should've been done similar to NE (Temptations too) is right on the $$s. But I bet they couldn't because it'd priced it out of production (music rights alone:)) but clearly that's why this movie came up short.

And another reason they may not have ventured into more time/detail, they'd had problems keeping it PG13. The trials and tribulations of Bobby and his family are downright biblical and not in a good way. The books and TV bios cover it in all its horrid detail, ironically very entertaining, just not pleasant.

Summary, IF you're of that time and/or a fan of Switch, DeBarge,..worth checking out Bobby's Story.

Bobby my love, you deserve so much better than this! I pray you get it one day. This was not it. I'm all for our people getting work, God bless the actors. The story should have least been a mini series. And don't even get me started on those wigs, the fake looking wigs which I noticed a lot of people commented on, took away from the realness of the story. It was like people were playing dress-up and having an awful costume party and they didn't even tell not even 25% of what Bobby went through and shared only 10% of what his talent was.... and so many things in the movie was actually proven false so that also was a disappointment. For those who knew Bobby personally and his struggles, a lot of scenes more disappointing because it wasn't what happened, so we're not even looking at a real biography here, just something somebody threw together. And again Bobby DeBarge deserved better then this.

I gave it a 5 because it's not good, but it's not terrible.

I did learn alot about the family, but it seemed that all Bobby's character did was argue about his Dad, and then when he went to see his siblings all that existed was arguments.

I'm sure there were a lot of movies about families that have had good relationships go down the drain but this one just seemed like I was watching more than one movie.

I do agree with the wigs criticism...what is it about these movie with bad wigs...who is he Tyler Perry?!

Anyway, the actor who played Bobby was pretty good. I feel like this was a late draft that was rushed into production and maybe they rewrote it more while filming.

I think the great Bobby Debarge needs a better deal. This movie seemed straighforward but still lacking.

The acting was terrible. Even the continuity in this film was all off. The actual Bobby DeBarge story is a sad and beautiful story, But this film makes it look like a joke. My four star rating was being very generous.

The Positive: I am glad that some Black actors had the opportunity to work

The Negative: (1) hideous wigs (they have a life of their own); (2) a disjointed story with more holes than a piece of swiss cheese; (3) Poor editing...the story was all over the place (4) Poor script -- I don't think the actors had much of a story to work with.

I was a huge Switch fan in the 1970s. After I watched the movie, I was left asking "What did I just watch"? May Mr. DeBarge rest in peace, because he didn't seem to have any during his life.