Poseidon-3
Awareness of this made-for-cable mockumentary seems to be almost a little well-kept secret with only a select group of people knowing about it and enjoying its rewards. Lewis is front and center here as Jackie Washington, a fictional songstress who hit it big as a youth and then struggled to carve out a lasting career afterwards. Her big return to the concert stage prompts a British documentary host (Curry) to film an essay on her life and career, past and present, sprinkled with vignettes of her preparation for the comeback event as well as celebrity testimonials and interviews with her various friends and relatives (most notably Goldberg as her embittered sister.) Lewis has this character down pat and revels in displaying all the phoniness, contempt, desperation, haughtiness and glitz-laden flair that it calls for. Just the way she pronounces and intones her daughter's name Antandra is hilarious, but she's excellent throughout. The character includes various bits from all the big divas including Diana Ross, Whitney Houston, Shirley Bassey and Patti LaBelle. Curry pretty much exists as a foil for her and doesn't get a great deal of his own amusing material. He rather overdoes his veddy British stuffiness at times and doesn't keep it consistent in any case. A more non-descript interviewer would likely have worked better. Other prominent performers are Pierce (in a parody of the Joan Crawford film "Torch Song") as a deaf piano accompanist, Devine as a child-burdened hometown pal of Lewis's and the aforementioned Goldberg as Lewis's sour, jealous and resentful sister. Additionally, the film is peppered with many cameo bits from a potpourri of major names in music and entertainment, some of them quite notable such as Parton, Minnelli and Midler. Others are quite surprising such as Saint, Pescow and Williams. In the tradition of the best films of the genre, there are plenty of faux record covers, recreated stage and film moments and a wide variety of settings, instances and populace to make the film move along and hold interest. There is an occasional dry spot along the way, but mostly it stays pretty amusing. The songs in the film are very lively, catchy and fun and the costumes and hairstyles are interesting. The feel-good ending may not ring 100% true, but at least ends the movie on an up-note.
Pepper Anne
Lifetime Television for Women, as the motto goes, surprised me by running this hilarious spoof movie, as their ritual made-for-tv movies are either grossly morbid (movies about date rapes, killer husbands, stalkers, etc) or completely stupid (many of the Danielle Steele-based or Susan Lucci movies). Unfortunately, this was a once-in-a-Lifetime TV opportunity, since they have yet to offer more feel good comedies. Jackie's Back is the hilarious story of disco diva Jackie Washington's (the excellent Jennifer Lewis) momentous comeback. The mockumentary, hosted by proper Englishman, Edward St. John (the excellent Tim Curry), recounts Jackie's past and follows her during her days leading up to the show. The only thing is, no one knows who Jackie Washington is, and through the mockumentary, you learn that Jackie is basically a hack who isn't really famous at all. In fact, her introduction into the business came by accident. It parodies the lives of several famous singers of the past, most noteably, Supreme's front lady, Dinana Ross (and this is even funnier because on of the former Supremes, Mary Wilson, appears to tell what an annoying, premiscous child little Jackie Washington was), and rock n' roll queen, Tina Turner. Meanwhile, Jackie's trying to show herself as this respectable singer who was just misunderstood or used by those around her, but in reality, she was a complete phony. While Jackie takes us around, making her preperations and telling things about herself (kind of like VH1's Behind the Music), we see that things aren't quite as she describes them. Cut with short soundbites from celebrity interviews, you see that Jackie isn't the sweet lady she makes herself out to be. I absolutely love the part where Liza Minnelli says that she thinks Jackie stole her Tony Award. And then, when Jackie is in her studio talking with Edward, you can see the award in the background and Jackie says that Minnelli gave it to her as a gift. I also love the Coco Movie, which is like a female version of Shaft. It is the best sequence in the whole movie. To show you how pretentious Jackie Washington is, this is the first time I ever heard the chain Target referred to as Tarshay (like if the French were to pronounce it) when Jackie tells Edward that she is late because she got held up on the checkout line at Target (or Tarshay as Jackie says). Jennifer Lewis was perfect in this role, she really is one of the best comediennes.And her daughter, Attandre Washington (T.V. Blake), was great, too, as this nutty teenage girl who liked being on camera and saw her mom as this sincere star. The best part is when Jackie goes to visit the old neighborhood and Attandre starts talking about something that Jackie did, and she says finishes with, "and then there was the gun and..." and her mother politely hushes her up. Jackie, Attandre, and Edward are really the whole movie, but Jackie and Attandre are the funniest characters. Edward is this cynical English gent sort who doesn't buy too much of Jackie's B.S.
There's a ton of celebrity cameos. Bette Midler, Liza Minelli, Whoopie Goldberg, Julie Hagerty, David Hyde Pierce, Loretta Divine (she was the voice of Muriel on the PJs along with Jennifer Lewis who played her sister, Bebe), Dolly Parton, Grace Slick, Isabelle Sanford, and even Rudy Ray Moore (who appears during her Coco Movie scene), and many more.
This is really a great spoof, except for the finale when everyone wants to stop Jackie's performance. These scenes are so awfully sentimental it could make you gag. What a lousy ending to such a funny movie. I highly recommend seeing it, despite that. Jennifer Lewis is fantastic!
Mike-469
This was a great, entertaining movie. The setup was good and the acting was especially enjoyable. Overall, fun entertainment, and I hope they show it again on TV. The movie started out strong and continued to be so until the end, when things suddenly turned a little too emotional. The writer's should have followed the "Seinfeld Rule" -- no hugging, no crying, no learning.
