While Taylor Swift’s “The Eras Tour” topped the North American box office again this week, another pop star’s film, Britney Spears, was back on screen along with the release of her autobiography.
Published at 2:03 am. Updated at 7:15 a.m.
Crossroads, a full-length feature film directed by Shonda Rhimes (Grey’s Anatomy), failed to make an impression on minds or the seventh art when it was released in 2002. “Just like the script and visuals of this singer’s pop recording. In a hurry, the soundtrack is worthy of a basement production made with Fisher-Price equipment,” my colleague Isabelle Massé wrote in her very noncommittal review of the film.
Isabelle, who is now my boss, still recognized that Britney Spears accurately interpreted this role that was tailor-made for her. I said the same thing to myself recently while rewatching Madonna in Desperately Seeking Susan by Susan Seidelman. I think the Material Girl has never been more compelling on the big screen than in this incredible 1985 romantic comedy.
Janet Jackson was equally credible as the hairdresser-poet in John Singleton’s disappointing second feature, Poetic Justice (1993). She starred alongside legendary rapper Tupac Shakur, who is a pretty good actor in his own right, just like Ice Cube in Boyz n the Hood, the late American filmmaker’s first film.
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Janet Jackson and Tupac Shakur in Poetic Justice
On the pretext of the theatrical release of Crossroads, I remembered some notable films, successful and not so successful, with singers.
From Frank Sinatra in “The Manchurian Candidate” by John Frankenheimer to Harry Styles in “Dunkirk” by Christopher Nolan. From Elvis Presley in “Viva Las Vegas” – I saw him recently, his chemistry with Ann-Margret couldn’t be faked – to Justin Timberlake (Britney Spears’ ex) in David Fincher’s “The Social Network”. From Barbra Streisand, Oscar winner for Funny Girl and unforgettable in Sydney Pollack’s The Way We Were, to Lady Gaga in Bradley Cooper’s A Star Is Born. We can say that singers generally perform well as actors.
Closer to home, Marie-Mai can currently be seen in “Testament” by Denys Arcand. Quebec artists have contributed to some of the most important films in our national cinematography: Claude Gauthier and Jean Lapointe in Michel Brault’s masterpiece “The Orders”, Gauthier and Robert Charlebois in “Entre la mer et l’ freshwater” by the same filmmaker. Willie Lamothe in “The Death of a Woodcutter” and “The True Nature of Bernadette” by Gilles Carle, Ginette Reno in “Léolo” by Jean-Claude Lauzon, Kevin Parent in “Café de Flore” by Jean-Marc Vallée or even Marjo in “Chien de garde” by Sophie Dupuis. There are many other examples, including Marie-Jo Thério in Full Blast by Rodrigue Jean.
To increase the popularity of feature films, pop stars were often hired. With generally more box office success than Mariah Carey in the disastrous Glitter or Céline Dion in the current Love Again.
We think of Beyoncé Knowles in “Dreamgirls” or Whitney Houston in “The Bodyguard” (the script was written by Lawrence Kasdan, who later distanced himself from it).
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Vincent Gardenia and Cher in Moonstruck.
As successes we can cite Cher, Oscar for best actress for “Moonstruck” (1987) by Canadian Norman Jewison, Kris Kristofferson, awarded in the underrated film “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” (1974) by Martin Scorsese. The late Olivia Newton-John in Grease (1978) and Tina Turner in George Miller’s Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985). Or even Eminem (8 Mile) and Prince (Purple Rain), in roles with a strong autobiographical touch.
Popular singers have appeared in films aimed at more niche audiences. I recently discovered Mick Jagger as a disaffected rock star in Nicolas Roeg’s sulphurous Performance (1970). David Bowie played an alien in the same British filmmaker’s extremely explosive film The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976). Bowie was memorable as a prisoner of war in Nagisa Ōshima’s Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (1983) and was in the cast (along with Chris Isaak) of David Lynch’s Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992).
Marianne Faithfull played herself in Made in USA (1966) by Jean-Luc Godard. Selena Gomez couldn’t destroy her clear pop star image more than in Harmony Korine’s Spring Breakers (2012).
Debbie Harry made a career in independent cinema with roles in such unique films as David Cronenberg’s “Videodrome” (1983), John Waters’ “Hairspray” (1988) and Isabel Coixet’s “My Life Without Me” (2003).
Not to forget Alana Haim in the enchanting Licorice Pizza (2021) by Paul Thomas Anderson, which also starred Tom Waits, who has appeared since Down by Law (1986) by Jim Jarmusch (just like Iggy Pop since Dead Man).
My favorite acting performances in the cinema? Jennifer Lopez was irresistible opposite George Clooney in Steven Soderbergh’s suave Out of Sight (1998). But it was undoubtedly Björk who touched me the most, in Lars von Trier’s Dancer in the Dark (2000), which won him the Palme d’Or and won him the Best Actor award at the Cannes Festival.