+Jade Clark It should have been a two-part or three-part miniseries kinda like the Jacksons. They would've been able to put more stuff that happened in Toni's life into the movie.
The movie was okay, I was kinda bored with it though. I think if she would have teamed up with vh1 it would have been better considering the success of the TLC biopic.
Toni and Keri did get a divorce around 2013 so President Obama was in the White House. The movie just had a problem with pacing and timing. And let's not forget Towanda had those damn pigtails in the 1st season of Braxton Family Values 😂
They left out major parts out, mainly the Braxtons, how she was forced to date their boss at the time because she thought he was gonna drop them, the Broadway, the stressful pregnancy with dizel because of arista like.... Should've been in theaters her story was much more diverse than this
+The Holy Trinity It should've been a two-part or three-part miniseries. A lot of stuff that happened in Toni's life was left out like her other accomplishments, her other relationships, her helping her sisters get a record deal, her pregnancy with her son Diesel and her label not supporting it. And it should have included more of her songs.
Debbi Morgan was great as Miss E. It did seem to rush through fast, but I also appreciate how much they had to cram into a short space of time. Andre Hall was beautiful as Keri Lewis. The ending was a lovely touch. Toni is a superstar, no one can deny it! :)
+simonstuart2003 to me I felt like they should told her that like how you're gonna sit there and make it seem like you're doing this out the goodness of your heart knowing damn well she's paying for this....shiesty af
To me the movie was sooo rushed and everything that was in the movie I could just find in old media clips, I think it could have been a little more personal.
+Arusha Braithwaite Toni said once in an interview that she had a crush on Babyface but Babyface only saw her as a little sister. But if you look at her son Denim, he looks like he could've been Babyface's son. Denim resembles Babyface a lot.
I'm 4 years late, but i'm just now watching the movie. The girl was beautiful that played her... but she wasn't toni pretty... and her voice was so underwhelming. Not sultry at all. I hate the wig too! lol
But is my memory serving me wrong by recalling Toni winning the last Grammy being a scene on BFV & that Tamar was also nominated as well? Wasn't Toni in the car on the way when she found out? Lastly, I could've sworn that Tamar wasn't back at the hotel yet with them to celebrate... 🤔🤔🤔🤔
nothing against the person who played Towanda but if they ever did a lifetime story on Frankie, Keyshia Cole mama.... I could definitely see her playing the part
I was so glad that you mentioned The Good Life era because I was soooo ready to see them do their showcases and performances. I was hoping they would show Trina, Towanda, and Tamar as the new "The Braxtons" because the movie made it seem like all 4 sisters were her background singers throughout her entire career. The Toni Braxton era, yes, understandable but The Secrets era was when the So Many Ways album was out and Toni actually let them perform on her tours and stuff. It's the small details that could've made this a little better. And when I saw towanda's pigtails, I seriously thought they only did that since she wore them throughout the first season of Braxton Family Values, but when they had her in that hair for dag on near 20 years... I was like -____- because Towanda always had her hair short during So Many Ways era and she didn't start wearing longer hair until she was on Starting Over back in 2004. Okay, I'm going to stop now because I could go on and on. LOL
+Caelon Robinson I don't think they did many performance and stuff during the Good Life era which wasn't an era really since it didn't last that long at all. They put out one single and that's it; it wasn't a whole album and the single flopped.
+rhoyal6 I found an old newspaper interview with all of the Braxtons from November 1991 a couple years ago and even though their single flopped, they still were performing at little gigs throughout the DMV area to get their name out because they were determined to shine as a family, but the crowd didn't like them. They were mean, especially to Towanda, Trina, and Tamar.
+Caelon Robinson I didn't say that they weren't performing at all. Performing in the DMV area doesn't equal many performances but I get what you're saying.
We hav pretty much the same opinions about this movie. From how the actress looked to being confused with playing the "man enough for me" instrumental while doing the "unbreak my heart" practice. I enjoyed watching this and it brought so many great memories. You got me wanting to read the book now. I was crying a few times...
hmm see I took the scene with little Tamar different. I honestly took it as okay Tamar was upset her big sister was leaving them behind. It kind made me think she wasn't jealous just looked up to her big sister. I didn't take that as shade. I feel like it was rushed too though it jumped around lmao. made me feel old though cuz I was able to second guess so much. And poor Towanda smh they could have least changed up her hairstyle.
+Cj Alter I saw little Tamar being upset the same way you did. People are using the word "shade" too damn much these days, so much that people don't know what's shade and what's not anymore.
The actress' speaking voice didn't match at all! I thought it was strange to hear her talk in this high pitched voice then a minute later singing so low.
You're review is on point!!! I would give it a B- or a C+. Ms. Debbie Morgan carried the movie and the ending was cute. The time line was so out of sequence and the girl playing Toni voice was a little to high for Toni's speaking voice. But, it was the best Lifetime biopic
Ashley you did that. You picked up on all the main points that I saw that were off. Yes they had TAWONDA fucked up. That girl looked like she had crawled out from up under a meteorite I threw a wig on her head after she had been charred in space. It was awful and it was def major shade. I know she kicked Toni's ass when she saw who they had playing her. What I did like is that they showed how Towanda has always been the business minded strong sister. I also noticed the song, "He wasn't man enough for me", was playing during the wrong time period as well. The lip synch was bad and the girl who played Toni played her as a victim and childlike during a major part of the movie. Toni on her reality show doesn't come across that way unless she was really that way during that time period. Toni said she stayed off set during most of the filming so she wouldn't mess the girl up. I think she should have done a Tina Turner and her ass there to make sure she could coach the girl on how to better portray her. Selena's people were on the set to make sure Jennifer Lopez got every thing right about Selena - down to the dancing and the way she moved sang - it was nearly perfect. Toni if they are making a movie about YOU - you've gotta be there to make sujre the shit goes down RIGHT mama. #NoShadeOverHere Beyond that it was very nice and I will watch it again. The only reason like you said Ashley they had to cut a lot out was that they had less than two hours to tell a twenty five year story. Also I will add the dude who played Michael Braxton senior and the guy who played Kerry were FINE! Yes!!!!!!! #BeautifulBlackAmericanMen
Great review Ashley! I usually don't comment under your videos very often but I must say that they neglected to mention that the song, Un-Break My Heart was originally written for Celine Dion but she didn't want it because she felt that the song was too disney-ish so they gave the song to Toni.
+Mark Shelton There are a lot of details and events that weren't in the movie but are in her book. Toni also thought the song was too Disney so LA Reid and Babyface had to talk her into doing it. I didn't hear about the Celine info though. If they had included everything from Toni's book in this movie, it would have been a mini-series so a lot was left out.
To me, the movie was rushed. The girl who played Tamar, wasn't spicy enough.Baby face, and the mother was perfect. I think they should have worked on it a little longer,to perfect it.
I enjoyed it. This biopic goes up there with Versace and Celine Dion Lifetime biopics. I just wish that it was 4 hours long. They could have made it a 2 night movie just to fit in more about Toni's life.
+Teresa Hunt He was in office when Toni divorced and that's when Ms. E said that. She said it on Braxton Family Values at the time Toni was going through her divorce. It's just confusing how they put it in the movie.
+Teresa Hunt That's how you know half of it was lies trying to clear her name. I remember her being on Oprah and being question about her spending and she said it was wardrobe not those 20 dollar dresses.
Girl, after they were rehearsing "he wasn't man enough for me" back in '96... I was side eyeing that movie ever since. But the costumes were beautiful!
SOO on point, I too felt they skipped over some of the highlights/successes of her career. But given that Toni seems to always highlight her guilt, I guess she skipped over them too. I wish they wouldve done more video shoots/behind the scenes stuff, like the infamous Oprah interview would've been great to see. Skipping over the more thsn a woman drama/the aida and broadway stuff was a missed opportunity but ill just watch the inside out sepcial AGAIN. Also on point about the time line with he wasn't man enough and the Obama comment, and yes I wish the switch would have included all the 'real family members' at the end.
I am shocked that Toni couldn't get any sponsors for her tour, her first album was a big hit and cross over and she could of gotten many of sponsors for her tour, they rip her over big time, smdh.
I think that was because she was black. Ain't no way in the world they should have had her wearing all those designer clothes in her videos and at all these award shows without the being sponsored or lent to her. Her sales were too big especially after the first album for her to have to pay for those clothes outta pocket.
I had the same reaction to the placement of He Wasn't Man Enough. The lip syncing definitely needed work. The actors should have had to know the songs as well as they had to know their lines. They should have made them sing along with the track to make it look better.
The girl that played Toni looked like Toni for ten second during certain scenes. The man the man that played their father looked just like him I agree Pebbles looked white , Debbie Morgan gave everybody a master class in 1minute with that break down she was foaming at mouth and everything. Tyler Perry Andre Hall and Gavin Houston did their thing. I was seriously like which was is Towanda, Traci and Trina.
It's was an okay movie. I don't blame Toni for wanting to do this biopic while she is still alive, that way she can give us all the information SHE wants us to know. She's able to paint herself in a good light. It felt like we were watching an episode of BFV with copy and paste articles from Wikipedia. Did they the banks take Tamar's Grammys during Toni's second bankruptcy? And I wonder if this motivated Tamar to do a biopic from her POV at some point.
+RebelleMichelle If they did take her Grammy's during the 2nd bankruptcy, she has them now so it doesn't matter. Also, Tamar can't do a biopic about Toni's life from any point of view. This biopic is based on Toni's memoir even though many details that are in the book weren't represented in the movie. If Tamar wants to do a biopic about HER life that's fine or maybe they'll do one as The Braxtons.
+Joshua McDowell They obviously didn't auction them because she has them now. They sit on her mantle in her home; we just saw them last season on her reality show.
The actor that was playing tamar didn't act like tamar at all to me and u are so funny. All in all it was a good movie. The best/real scene was when Evelyn was throwing shoes and breaking stuff because she found out that he was cheating on her. I agree with u they did towanda shady.
The time was all the way off in this movie. They had 1992 on the screen when she first went to Atlanta to record her album when she first got signed. Now Boomerang came out in 1991 so ain't no way she signed a deal and recorded music for the soundtrack a year after the movie came out. The chick that played her was cute but she didn't really embody Toni to me. That coy, sultry vibe Toni gives, especially on the red carpet, the way she always pouts when she sings, and during the early days of her career she sang with her hands a lot, she didn't give none of that. Hell even that Arsenio performance with her and Babyface, which is on RU-vid, Toni was giving these real hard leg kicks as she walked across the stage, she didn't even do that. Home girl ain't do no studying on Toni and she really has no excuse not to considering that she could've watched episodes of BFV on Netflix to study her mannerisms and how she interacts with her family and her videos and live performances are everywhere.
I was alittle disappointed because I felt like she rushed a bit, it wasn't many shocking factors (like she retold the stuff we alright knew), the production was too simple, got boring, and the characterization of Toni was soo OFF. Lexie Scott Davis didn't exlude Toni's tone of voice, personality and the lip syncing wasn't believable. Like beyond the headlines gives me more what I wanted than the movie. However, Ms. E, LA Reid, Pebbles, Babyface characters were on point!
I thought that the actor that plays Jeffrey (Gavin Houston) on The Haves and The Have Nots did a pretty good job playing Baby Face. It was nice to see him get another acting role. Yes, the lip syncing was not too good. :(
I think their niece Ashlee should've played Towanda. I got soooo confused on who was playing who when it came to Trina.lol...Debbie Morgan KILLED that Mama E role! Why they have to make Tamar the dramatic one even at the beginning! HILARIOUS! It could've been better casting, acting and longer. I wanted it to be longer. Add her Broadway performances, "You're Making Me High" footage because Toni THE Braxton hunty, sells pain AND SEXY! Sooooo glad Toni decided to do BFV..That's my show. Will never forget how they smoked weed in Jamaica, "Ding a ling of Gold song(Toni & Tamar), "Touch The Fertile Tree" song right before Tamar got pregnant with Lgan, and Girls night when Toni ate Mayo, Towanda ate tht foot strawberry, and The house was haunted. Just some of the episodes I will NEVER forget!
Great review!! I noticed the exact same things you did! And I thought the real sisters were going to be at the end too! I give it the same score for the same reasons. This review was spot on!
Love the review. Yeah the timeline annoyed me too. Gavin Houston's lip syncing was terrrible lol, but the film itself is only 1hr & 25mins. Coulda, shoulda and woulda been longer w/out all the adverts. But the acting was good for the most part. Overall I'm surprised I enjoyed the film as much as I did lol
if you ask me the best memoir where Selena , Tina Turner, the five heartbeats , and the temptations . They should've used producers from those movies .
Thanks so much for shouting out this new Toni Braxton movie. I found it late last night on Lifetime, and I really enjoyed it, wish it was just a little longer. Gavin Houston was the perfect actor to play Edmond Babyface. Far better than the others!
I liked the movie. I thought it was good and the casting was decent. I loved Debbi Morgan. She played Mama Evelyn to the t. Lex Scott Davis did a good job playing Toni. Gavin Houston did a good job playing Babyface. But I wish it was a two-part or three-part miniseries kinda like the Jacksons and The Temptations. They would've been able to include more stuff that happened in Toni's life into the movie. A lot of stuff was left out like her other relationships and her other accomplishments. And it should've included more of her songs.
OUCH! Your review was fun. BlacksinHollywood.com posted a FULL REVIEW of #ToniBraxon #UnbreakMyHeart biopic. Your comments from your video review were included
The movie actually wasn't too bad but the lip singing...whew Not sure how I felt about the person playing Tamar/Towanda. Some name tags or something would have been nice to figure out which sister was which lol
It was well done. They played they damn self choosing that woman to play Tawanda and "Angie" sure played the mess out of her part as Evelyn. I also agree that the end should have had the real family in it too.
If you ask me the casting was so off they could've used the real sisters because they were grown the whole movie I was damn can we get high school scene . First Sunday Church with Mrs Evelyn in her white church dress with matching hat and shoes on the front bench an her kids in the choir an the daddy preaching .
I think they made the movie the way Toni wanted it an she is a reserved person. The point of the movie was to clear here name about bankruptcy an to warn people of the music industry snakes. That stuff really hurt her so the movie to me was to set the record straight not a memoir. Good Movie Good Concept Good People (BFV)
You're been really nice giving it a B. I gave it a D. Toni is a superstar and she's still here. This movie could have been a miniseries on VH1. Too much was left out, the timeline was messed up, you couldn't keep up with it, and you couldn't tell which sister was which. Towanda was a mess. The movie went too fast, it was too much.
I was damn confused to with the lady who was cast as Pebbles.I think the actress who played pebbles in Tlcs Bio was on point.That Towanda though...roflmfao they wrong for that.I think Tamar,their dad and Kerry were the only cast that was close enough.And Ms E,that voice sounded identical.There were parts when Toni's character did look a lot like Toni herself.I enjoyed the movie..
Girl you hit it on the nail with Tawanda LOL, girl I was thinking the same thing! I'm thinking to myself, now I wonder if Tawanda is looking at this movie saying to herself "Now Y'all didn't have to do me like that". I agree with you, girl you had me dying laughing because the girl who played her part was not a good look.
+Darrell Mason Towanda is fine with the woman that played her. In fact, I believe that Towanda was one of the producers and may have had a hand in picking her; however, Toni didn't pick any of the women who played her sisters. She said so on The Real.
I could've sworn Evelyn said "all men cheat expect Obama" in 2011. I feel like whomever wrote this movie didn't know much about the other girls, they literally took lines and hairstyles from BFV when it came to portraying the others. I refuse to believe Towanda had those braids longer than one season of BFV.
+RebelleMichelle The movie was based on Toni's memoir so the focus wasn't on the sisters and it shows in the movie. They put just enough or little about them in the movie because they weren't the focus. With all the stuff that the movie left out about Toni's life, they could have made two more movies or had a mini-series so yeah, they weren't focusing on how the sisters looked and all that. Now if they ever do a Braxtons movie, I'm sure more attention will be paid to the sisters and them as a whole family.