The most fragrant flower in the bouquet is slinky, sexy Sister (Carmen Ejogo). The most serious is college student Dee (Tika Sumpter), apparently the first woman they've ever seen who wears an Afro. The shy sweetheart is Sparkle, played by the perfectly named American Idol winner Jordin Sparks. She lives and breathes music and fills notebooks with her songs but doesn't have the courage to face the spotlight; as the movie opens she's backstage urging Sister to solo, which Sister, after a show of reluctance, does -- sensationally. Carmen Ejogo, who you may recall as Thomas Jefferson's lover in the TV series "Sally Hemmings," steals the film not only in her sultry singing numbers but in her violent marriage to a snaky, evil comedian named Satin (Mike Epps).
That comes after the three girls have taken the first steps in a musical career masterminded by a nice guy named Stix (Derek Luke), who meets Sparkle at church, falls in love, and produces their first shows. We are meant to believe these early steps in their career were made possible when they sneaked out of their bedroom windows at night; apparently Emma had no hint of their subterfuge.
The screenplay by Mara Brock Akil, inspired by Joel Schumacher's original for the (lesser) 1976 movie "Sparkle," follows well-worn showbiz patterns as the girls go from rags to riches to tragedy to comeback. The most electrifying scenes involve the destructive comedian Satin, a local celebrity, who finds Sister in love with the sincere young man Levi (Omari Hardwick), humiliates him, sweeps her up, gives her a diamond and in what seems like days is knocking her around and has her addicted to cocaine. His role model could be Ike Turner.
I won't say more about Satin, except that the character inspires a prison sentence that is treated by the film with curious superficiality. But never mind. The basic purpose of the film is to fit the story into wall-to-wall music, and it does that with style and energy. "Sister and Her Sisters," the original trio, come across as a gifted American Idol version of Diana Ross and the Supremes, which I think is the idea. And Sparkle as a solo act (with backup singers, a gospel choir and a full pit orchestra) brings down the house.
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