Four women
With apologies to Nina Simone, I'd like to dedicate this week in film to four women: Yolande, Mariah, Maya and Joan. [...] It's unlikely that Mariah Carey will be weighed down with trophies for her role in the soggy redemption movie Tennessee" which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival last year, but her solid acting, as a diner waitress in Texas who flees an abusive cop-husband and hits the road with two brothers, is definitely part of the Rehabilitation of Mimi.
"The whole Glitter experience was very, very hard to go through," Carey says in Tennessee's press notes, referring to her critically drubbed, semi-autobiographical 2001 movie; nothing spurs a diva on more than proving people wrong. MC's Lone Star twang is consistent, and when she disappears from the action, staying behind in Nashville while the brothers board a Knoxville-bound Greyhound, you wish she'd come back, with her cornrows, kerchiefs and acoustic guitar, to save us from the siblings working out their still-simmering family trauma.
Perhaps all Carey needed to regain onscreen confidence was the unwavering support of Tennessee producer Lee Daniels; judging from the amazing performance the singer gives in the upcoming Precious, which Daniels directed, it's clear he's her charm bracelet. (excerpt from IFC)
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