I am not sure what to make of this movie. Kay Cannon wrote the script off an idea by James Corden — the “idea” part I guess being to make a Moulin Rouge-style retelling that uses existing songs to help tell the story, though there are a couple originals in there too, apparently. They range from Janet Jackson’s “Rhythm Nation” to “Somebody to Love” to “Shining Star,” to a mash-up of “Whatta Man” and “Seven Nation Army.” Will it be tongue-in-cheek, will it be earnest, will it manage to blend the two in the way Moulin Rouge did? Idina Menzel and Billy Porter bring singing and acting bona fides (and look at Billy’s COSTUME here!), and Minnie Driver and Pierce Brosnan bring the latter, and Cabello brings the former… but she also kinda needs to be able to act, and I’m so curious if she can. She comes across as very dead-eyed in photos and even sometimes in her live performances. Hopefully the rest of it can compensate? Or hopefully it will be so terrible that it’s delightful? Well. It’s on Amazon Prime, so it’ll be easy enough to find out.
