Reptileenbu Did you people see the same film I saw?

ShangLuda Admirable film.

Crwthod A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

Geraldine The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

sddavis63 Admittedly, it's probably unfair to call Dorothy Dandridge unknown, as I've just done in the title. She was, after all nominated for an Academy Award and had a fairly long resume of parts, even if the majority of them were small ones. Many probably know her. I, however, aside from this movie, have no knowledge of her whatsoever. I've never seen any of her movies and was not familiar with the name until I came across this bio-pic. The title of this movie would seem to suggest that I'm not alone - she has to be introduced to us, after all. And - what an introduction!Halle Berry was absolutely perfect in this role. To me, she became the character with all the right moves and all the right emotions and presented a fascinating portrait of her subject. I find it hard to believe that so much was introduced in a little under two hours. Dandridge's problematic relationships (especially her relationship with the great director Otto Preminger) were interesting; her troubled upbringing being abused by whoever "Auntie" was supposed to be to the family was sad; her devotion to her mentally retarded daughter; the subtle look at the reality of racism in the era (she dips her toes in a hotel swimming pool, and the pool has to be drained and scrubbed as a result); her growing drug and alcohol dependence; her ultimate tragic death. In some respects she's portrayed as a black Marilyn Monroe, who does pop up from time to time in this movie. You would think that trying to show so much in so little time would lead to a shallow presentation, but it didn't. The movie leaves you wanting more, but not because it hasn't given you a lot.The secondary characters were also interesting: from Dandridge's first husband (Obba Babatunde) - who is captivated by her beauty but can't agree with her on what they want out of life, to her manager Earl Mills (Brent Spiner) - who quietly falls in love with her, to Preminger (Klaus Maria Brandauer) - who also seems to love her, but who finally turns away from her, possibly because she wanted more of a commitment than he wanted to give or perhaps because he felt that creating personal distance between them would help him to further her career.I'm shocked that this movie doesn't have a higher rating here. I think this was absolutely marvellous. 10/10

MulattaAries2007 I've been a fan of Dorothy Dandridge for years and when I saw that Halle Berry brought her life to the big screen, her performance was very credible. If someone other than Halle would have done that part, the movie wouldn't have been as great as it was. It takes a hell of a lot of talent to pull off someone else's life and that couldn't have been very many actress in Hollywood. So, any old' actress wouldn't have done the job that Halle did. There were some aspects of Dorothy's life that weren't covered, but those weren't as important as the one's capture in the movie. When I saw Halle Berry playing Dorothy Dandridge, it was like I was seeing the real thing, because Halle Berry was very convincible. Plus, I see Halle and Dorothy Dandridge having a lot in common within their lives, and what Halle gave off wasn't anything rinky-dink, but the real thing. And it gives others who knew nothing about Dorothy Dandridge an insight on her life. Of course there were going to be things left out, of course there were going to things exaggerated, it wasn't going to be perfect, if you want to know how Dorothy was in temperament, read books on her, because those are where the real information comes from. Movies don't always tell everything, but Halle's performance wasn't based on looks, but how she gave off the image of Dorothy Dandridge on screen. So, Halle Berry did work hard to that story to life, and her I found it amazing that she went to such lengths and did it.

Nirannah Introducing Dorothy Dandridge is about Dorothy Dandridge, the first black woman ever to receive a Best Actress In A Lead Role Oscar nomination. We watch Dandridge endure multiple traumas, including sexual abuse, something quite awful happening to her daughter (I don't want to give anything away), and many bad relationships with men. This film has quite a few flaws. The set design is quite awful. Besides being unrealistic, it is much too small and enclosed for the audience to really settle into a scene. The set design also has a fakely glamorous and rather Hollywoodesque tone and feel to it. The costume design and camera-work are adequate: nothing more and nothing less. The script is rather good--something about how almost the whole film is a flashback conveys Dandridge's despair quite well--and has a cut-and-paste quality which conveys the broken-to-pieces quality of Dandridge's life. The acting is very, very good. Spiner subtly brews a cauldron of intense thought and emotion, often being able to use only his face to convey what is going on in his character's head. Brandauer gives a fleshed-out and realistic performance as the cruel Otto Preminger, and Berry gives a moving Oscar-caliber performance as Dorothy Dandridge. Even the girl who plays Dandridge's daughter, though she has a tiny role, is quite good. In the courtroom scene, she and Berry worked together to become so moving they flooded me with emotion and sympathy, something not many scenes are able to do. The film does have its weak scenes. Berry is a very bad singer and dancer: her singing and dancing is boring and lacks energy. Thankfully, most (though not all) of her singing/dancing scenes are supposed to be weak because her character is on drugs. Dandridge's audition for Carmen is another weak scene: this scene is filmed, written, and acted in a Hollwoodesque and silly way. Though Brandauer is good in this scene, Berry is not: all she does is act cute and smile. This scene was a crucial scene in the film and had the potential to be quite powerful. I was disappointed. All in all, I would definitely recommend this very good, if highly flawed, film. It's ending is subtly, insinuatingly powerful, and will definitely have an impact on you. A very good film!

HerbertRousch There's a really interesting story here of a woman not allowed to soar to the stratosphere of stardom due to racism. Unfortunately, the film is rather standard-issue TV bio drama. Halle Berry is a very beautiful woman and tries very hard and succeeds at times to make Dorothy Dandridge a complex figure but many of the other characters are stereotypes.