The story of the troubled life and career of the legendary Jazz singer, Billie Holiday.
The big surprise in this conventional biopic is Diana Ross' great empathetic portrayal of Billie Holiday (although one may argue whether her singing style can match up with the jazz legend); otherwise this is a straightforward, but highly simplified and cliche-ridden depiction of the artist's life.
Halliwell*: "Old-fashioned showbiz biopic with new-fashioned drugs, sex and squalor."
Maltin**1/2: "Black version of Hollywood cliche-biography, sparked by superb performance by Ross...Valueless as biography, but OK as soap opera..."
