Is "Beyond the Lights" this generation's "The Bodyguard?"
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For the curious, here is a short descritption of the romance flick:
"Though she's been groomed for stardom all her life by an overbearing mother (Minnie Driver), singer Noni (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) is having trouble dealing with her success. Feeling unable to cope any longer, Noni tries to kill herself, but luckily Kaz (Nate Parker), the police officer assigned to be her bodyguard, thwarts her suicide attempt. Noni and Kaz feel an instant attraction, but those in their orbit oppose the romance for fear the pair will stray from the course planned out for both of them."
Despite the movie lacking box-office appeal, it was highly praised by audiences because of its seemingly real and raw portayal of love and success. The movie as given an 84% rating by Rotten Tomatoes, and a 73% by Metacritic.
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Bilge Ebiri of Vulture gave her honest opinions about the new flick, saying:
"Do we even make romantic dramas anymore? We make romantic comedies, and we make romantic melodramas - over-the-top, Sparksian wallows in tragedy, sure. But how often do we see movies in which plausible people fall plausibly in love and face plausible challenges? And yes, I am about to use the word plausible to describe Gina Prince-Bythewood's magnificent Beyond the Lights, which on its surface seems to be a candy-colored pop fantasy about the love between a beautiful hip-hop superstar and a hunky cop. To be fair, it's not not that. But how bracing today to have a film that's at once fun, patient, romantic, and real."
"Beyond the Lights is a deft, gorgeous movie. For all its honesty, it's never slow, and for all its criticism of the music industry, it's never finger-wagging. Prince-Bythewood recreates the hyperstylized imagery of music videos and awards shows, indulging in their pop absurdity while allowing an undercurrent of melancholy to course through. And she somehow does it all without ever letting the story get out of control, too ridiculous or fantastical. That may be Beyond the Lights' greatest accomplishment, and why, for a film so seemingly frivolous, it hits so hard: As we watch this dreamy, colorful piece of musical and romantic wish-fulfillment, we get the distinct sense we're watching real life unfold."
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