Robin Roberts Presents: Mahalia

A film critic could perhaps pick holes in this as a movie.. but as a musical it was sublime. It brought tears to my eyes.

I have not heard much of Mahalia Jackson's music but the singing in this film would make your hair stand on end Alright, I am a sucker for stomping blues/gospel music and this delivers it in abundance I am still winding down.. Someone above said it was not gritty... well from what I have read her life was not gritty, although she suffered a deal of sorrow her faith kept strong.

Danielle Brooks was great ! However could've been greater but I felt like she wasn't directed right. Reading some of Mahalia's story key characters missing from this story ! From what I have read she never spoke to Mildred after their falling out so that end scene is disappointing and then a very abrupt ending!!! I understand this is TV movie therefore will not have the same level of budget as movie however just felt like it could have been great movie the potential was there ! It felt censored almost ! I would've like to see more about her involvement in civil rights movement her relationship with JFK etc.

It seems with lifetime their biopics are usally missing some important components. The script for this wasn't good. Some of the casting was just bad. While Danielle Brooks' singing was pretty good her acting was not. There were, however, some moments in the performances that she did certain things that reminded me of watching Mahalia but those moments were few and very far between in this film. I also wish they had picked more well known Mahalia songs. Danielle can sing but her tone honestly wasn't close to Mahalia's even though at moments she did a pretty good job. There were also a lot of pc sounding speeches that did not reflect Mahalia's beliefs but i think the beliefs of the writers and producers of this film.

This was boring but i kept it on thinking maybe it would be more intersting but it wasn't. The actor playing MLK was so dull my goodness, lol. Some of the wigs they had on Danielle were on point though with what we've seen Mahalia wear before, I gotta say that. Wadrobe did a pretty decent job. That Aretha movie was better than this and I couldn't even finish watching that. If you're looking for a biopic like Ray or the Jacksons please know that this aint it. This is definitely forgettable.

Loved this movie, a great biopic. Danielle Brooks was awesome. Think I spotted another "goof" though - when the young Mahalia was singing as a young girl at her house in 1926 her Aunt came in and Mahalia took the needle off the record she was singing along too. It showed a modern piece of vinyl on the record player which looked very much like a multi track LP which I'm pretty sure weren't made until 1948 by Columbia. Later on Mahalia said that as a young girl she used to sing along to Victrola records which were 78rpm Bakelite discs. Can't take anything away from the spirit of the movie though.

Loved the actors but the film didn't seem to have any real depth to it. The music is brilliant as are the actors that play both Mahalia and also Mildred. It wasn't gritty enough though somehow. All a bit sanitised I felt. Look.