Double Platinum (1999)

An aspiring singer (Brandy Norwood) discovers that a pop superstar (Diana Ross) is the mother that abandoned her and her father (Brian Stokes Mitchell) when she was a baby in order to pursue her career. The mother offers to help her daughter with her own music dreams but the pain caused by the abandonment remains and proves a hindrance to their relationship. Directed by Robert Allan Ackerman, this hoary melodrama could have been an old Joan Crawford vehicle dusted off for Ross, it's that creaky. There's not a fresh or original moment in the entire movie. It dutifully connects all the dots heading straight for the happy ending. Fortunately for us, as an actress Diana Ross is a natural and she doesn't lack star quality, she's the real thing so she keeps us watching. But no actress, no matter how good can make this movie (originally shot for TV) anything more than a dusty vehicle with the cobwebs barely wiped off. With Roger Rees, Harvey Fierstein, Allen Payne, Samantha Brown and Christine Ebersole.