Mark Braboy
News Editor
After months of anticipation, the long awaited TLC biopic, “CrazySexyCool: The TLC Story” has finally arrived on VH1. Airing on Monday Oct 21st, the movie captured the attention of scores of TLC fans, telling a real story of sisterhood, overcoming individual struggles, young love, and the harsh realities of music industry.
The movie tells the story of the world famous trio from their early beginnings in Atlanta before being discovered by L.A. Reid’s wife Pebbles, to the aftermath of the untimely death of Lisa “Left Eye” Lopez in 2002. The movie starts out smoothly but as the transition is made to the individual stories of the group members, a lot of information, in my opinion, is left out. However, I interpreted this as the groups effort to focus on TLC as a whole, rather than their own stories, unless if affected the group.
On the flipside, the plot reveals aspects of the group that were heart wrenching and captivating such as T-Boz’s bouts with sickle cell anemia, Chilli’s relationship with Dallas Austin, Left-eye’s alcohol and family turmoil and the group’s financial struggles. Out of these struggles, the audience gets a glimpse into the inspirations to many of their classics, notably “Waterfalls” and “Unpretty.” You also discover how sisterhood played a role in keeping the group alive.
Drew Sidora portrayed Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins, NAACP Image Award winner Keke Palmer portrayed Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas, and rapper Natia “Lil Mama” Kirkland portrayed the enigmatic and quirky Lisa “Left Eye” Lopez.
It is evident that the cast was chosen with great care because all three delivered excellent performances overall. The trio also eerily resembles the Grammy Award-winning Hip-Hop/RnB group super-group to the point where it was almost like watching live footage.
In fact, there was a tremendous amount of detail and careful accuracy placed into the painstakingly recreated music videos, live interviews, concerts, and home video footage. This is what makes CrazySexyCool truly shine. With T-Boz and Chilli as consultants and executive producers, the movie successfully recreates the essence of what made TLC such a legendary group: their unique fashion sense, their dance moves, and their overall originality.
Besides the movies OCD-like attention to detail, another thing that stood out for me was the Lil Mama’s surprisingly amazing performance. Understandably, she was heavily scrutinized in the beginning after being revealed as part of the cast, but in hindsight, no one but Lil Mama could have played Left Eye. She successfully channeled her invigorating spirit the similarities between her and Lil Mama are very subtle but noticeable if you pay attention.
At times there were some minor problems with dialogue that seemed a bit forces but the major problems were with the plot holes.
The plot holes leave a lot of burning questions like what happened to the relationship between TLC and Crystal, the original “C” of the group before Chilli. The movie also had you wondering at what point Left Eye really began to pursue her spirituality. Then there were moments that were either incomplete or virtually untouched like the full story behind Left Eye’s dispute against T-Bozo and Chili, the alleged abusive relationship between T-Bozo and Mack 10, and the heartbreaking announcement of Left Eye’s car accident on MTV’s Total Request Live. Late into the movie, the plot almost seems rushed.
Despite these flaws, this is a film was very entertaining. If CrazySexyCool did nothing else, it took me on a gripping ride through music history as it reminded me how important the legacy of TLC is to not only to African-American music history, but music worldwide. TLC fans of all ages will enjoy this movie and thoroughly be reminded why TLC was MTB (Meant to be).
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