Lady Sings The Truth - movie review

Sidney J. Furie's adaptation of Billie Holiday's memoir Lady Sings The Blues is, to use the kindest
word, a mediocre film. When it is not mediocre, it verges on the idiotic. But when Diana Ross, who plays Miss Holiday ( and does her own singing), is performing in character, LSTB is suddenly transformed into a better-than-respectable work of art. Diana Ross looks as much like Billie Holiday as I look like Morrissey. As a Motown artist, she was always my least favorite. But she has the wit to sing in the manner of Billie Holiday rather than do an impression of Lady Day's singing. If that was all they wanted, they should have cast David Sedaris. ( He does a really swell Lady impression on the audio version of, you guessed it, Holidays on Ice.)
When LSTB - book and film were newly released, there was a resounding chorus of "hey, that's not how I remember it" from friends, admirers, critics and ass scratchers. Holiday's Daily News
pal William Dufty cut, pasted and "collaged" material from decades of interviews, thus generating her best selling autobiography. For the researcher, the book is about as useful as Tennessee Williams' Memoirs, another popular work of fictional nonfiction. Regarding veracity,the movie is
even worse. I love to see Richard Pryor in almost any movie context but why was it necessary to
create Piano Man when Holiday had many accompanists in her all-too-short career. Why couldn't he have played Lester Young, the brilliant sax player who was also lady's closest friend?
Well, we sighed when we heard Diana Ross was being cast as Billie Holiday. Although Furie's movie requires tolerance and generosity ( and maybe half a joint) from its viewer, it's worth seeing for Diana Ross's musical performances and, to a lesser degree, her movie acting. After doing a couple hours of compare / contrast Ross vs. Holiday, Holiday wins. But I have to say Miss Diana Ross could have been a more than adequate jazz singer. Honest.