Mary J Blige: The London Sessions (2015) Tribeca 2015

I had intended on going to see this play at the Beacon theater earlier tonight but I realized that I can only handle so many late nights and even though Mary J Blige was performing after the film I would probably be falling asleep in the middle of her set. Additionally tickets were pricey...

Little more than an extended promo for the same titled album by Ms Blige this film suffers from, in the words of Chris Bourne, being neither fish nor fowl.  While the film is too long to be a commercial for the album, the film is equally too short by half to be an insightful documentary. Seeing as little as we do of the creation of the songs its clear that there is a story to be told about how they were created. Additionally the film could use more detail on Blige's life up to now since what is revealed is moving enough that it would win her a whole slew of new fans once they saw a longer cut of the film.

I can't imagine actually paying good money to see this 45 minute film unless it was a precursor to a concert.

Honestly this film is good enough to wish it was longer but too short to really bother with. My advice- buy the album instead.