tlcposterI remember the female group TLC use to be my girls back in the day, when I use to listen to a lot of secular music. I thought these girls were beautiful and they had a style of their own. They looked so cool and I loved their music.

Ok, truth be told, I think I liked their look more than their music, but my favorite TLC songs were “Waterfalls” and “What about your Friends.”

I loved their music videos too. I even owned the poetry book “Thoughts” by T-Boz and liked some of the poems in it like “Unpretty.”

 

My mother use to tell me that there are three sides to a story, your side, my side and then the truth. I got to watch the TLC biopic that premiered on VH1 this month, telling the TLC tale from the perspective of the group’s surviving members Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins and Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas. Which I truly believe is a summarized version of their story close to the truth.

 

Just to let you know, I did like this movie and definitely would watch it again. I thought the three girls picked to play the roles of T-Boz, Left-Eye and Chilli did a good job. I felt they represented the women they were chosen to play well. Sometimes I hate reading other people’s reviews because people could be so negative. They are so many haters out there, but if anyone speaks negatively about what these girls accomplished, I dare them to do better or find someone who can. I highly doubt they will find anyone other than the original TLC members themselves.

 

tlc2picsThey were parts of the movie that I just didn’t buy. Come on, I find it hard to believe that the original “C” in TLC, Crystal Jones was as untalented and ditzy as they made her out to be. I believe there is a deeper truth in that story not portrayed in the film.

 

The lip sinking wasn’t as good as I would have like it to be. I would have liked to be at least 98% convinced that these girls were actually singing and rapping even though I know better. One thing they definitely didn’t fake is their dancing; these girls had the dancing down.

 

I was really impressed with Lil Mama’s acting debut. For her first role, I thought she did well. I thought she captured the essence of Lisa Lopes well and the range of emotions she needed to portray, Lisa’s wild, crazy antics, her anger and disappointment and her vulnerability.

 

tlc8This was the first time I have ever seen Keke Palmer in such a grown up role, e.g, a sex scene that reflected Chilli’s relationship with Dallas Austin, a brief abortion scene and then one with her giving birth. This was the most mature content I have ever seen her portray.  She looked sexier than ever, again a perfect representation of Rozonda Thomas, who I always saw as the prettiest, sexiest most girly-girl member of TLC. Kudos to Keke for doing her thing.

Drew Sidora really represented T-Boz well, down to the facial expressions, voice, style and, mannerisms. Out of the three girls, she was the one whose career I followed the least and she was also the one I was less sure about whether she was a good fit as T-Boz or not, but that girl put my uncertainty to rest. She was just as badass as I remember T-Boz use to be.

 

tlc3I thought the movie captured the major, already public parts of the TLC story that most people already knew with a slight behind the scenes look at what we may not have known about the group, but honestly it really did not go too deep into parts of the story we wouldn’t have known as fans.

 

I loved how the movie included reenactments of TLC’s most popular music videos and featured a lot of the music we love as TLC fans. The reproduction of TLC’s style through their decade together and music videos were awesome. It all matched up in my book.

 

The movie made Perri “Pebbles” Reid, the girl’s first manager out to be a greedy bitch, who seemed to have a beef against Chilli in particular, but the movie didn’t go too deep in that part of the story. I’d love to know more about that. Do I believe that is the truth or an exaggeration? I believe it’s the truth from Tionne and Rozonda’s side of the coin.

 

I love the use of TLC’s album covers as the artistic design for the opening credits of the movie. This movie was good enough for me and I don’t have any problem with the way the story was told. I wish it told me more, but that’s not a complaint. What did you think of the movie?

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