Blackbird

Without Mo'Nique...Blackbird would have flown away...without much afterthought or care.

With Mo'Nique...Blackbird should have flown away...without much afterthought or care. Instead, it received some attention...

So...what went wrong? On paper, it sounds like a damn fine project...So, what went wrong?

Glee and wet dreams have a head-on collision with the bible-bashing mother-from-hell - played with a ludicrous amount of unhinged zeal by the eponymous Oscar-winning Mo'Nique.

Add to the mix, Isaiah Washington, playing the kind-hearted, all-accepting father figure...a decent performance...with a bitter-sweet edge...remember, he got sacked from Grey's Anatomy for homophobic abuse.

Strange casting indeed...but, it doesn't end there...Gary LeRoi Gray (a bright future beckons) should have played the lead character, Randy. Instead, Julian Walker donned the mantle, a shrinking wallflower with a good voice...not what the part needed.

A mightier film could have been produced if Polk had had some widescreen vision and a sharper pencil...it's that can't-see-the-wood-for-the-trees problem...coupled with some dire writing...

Without the Glee, without the mad casting, without the mad Mo performance...there was a mighty fine film in there hiding behind the trees...itching to get out.

Not exactly a train-wreck...but, a major derailment...with a few minor casualties...namely, director and writer(s).

Trailer...