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All-Reviews.com Movie/Video Review
Why Do Fools Fall In Love
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 out of 4
Review by Susan Granger
1½ stars out of 4
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What could have been a caustic, witty farce becomes a sudsy
soap opera as the life of a doo-wop singer of the '50s & '60s, Frankie
Lymon, unfolds on the screen - as seen through the eyes of his three -
count 'em - three widows. As the story begins, Frankie's dead and
they're in court vying for a stake in his royalties. Each must prove
to the judge why she is the rightful heiress. The first claimant is a
glamorous, classy rhythm 'n' blues star (Halle Berry) who was singing
with the Platters in 1955 when she became involved with Frankie
(Larenz Tate). an up-and-coming teenage sensation from Harlem with a
big hit record, "Why Do Fools Fall in Love." Their romance lasted
until she went out on an extended foreign tour and he consoled himself
with heroin. After becoming a crazed junkie, he fell in with a crass
shoplifter (Viveca A. Fox) whom he impulsively married in Mexico. His
third wife was a prissy Southern schoolteacher with admirable domestic
skills (Lela Rochon), whom he met and married while he was in the
Army. The narrative by screenwriter Tina Andrews is episodic and
uneven, offering three "Roshomon-like" interpretations yet never
delving deep enough into Frankie Lymon's real, erratic persona, and
director Gregory Nava goes for gloss rather than grit - until the last
15 minutes when the disparate wannabe heiresses begin to bond over
their mutual involvement with this bigamist - or trigamist. Utilizing
Frankie Lymon's own music, as he recorded it, there are Golden Oldie
tunes a-plenty and some amusing antics by Little Richard, who toured
with Lymon. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, "Why Do Fools Fall
in Love" is an indulgent 4. Why did they make it so muddled? It could
have been a black music biz's "First Wives Club."
Copyright © 1998 Susan Granger
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