Crazy Sexy Cool: The TLC Story (2013)

TLC was only a little over ten years ago, one of the biggest female groups in existence. Since they brought out their first album in 1991, the trio consisting of Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins, Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes and singer Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas, was a mainstay in the charts. Their mix of R&B with a hip hop edge earned a big number of fans. Those fans helped the group sell millions of records, but behind the success they did have issues. Their contracts were bad and it meant they were hardly earning any money of their sales. When Left Eye died in a car crash in Honduras in 2002 it meant an end to the career of the band. Although the two remaining members appeared on some shows to talk and sometimes perform there wasn’t any new music available. Crazy Sexy Cool: The TLC Story, which got the stamp of approval from T-Boz and Chilli, now looks back at the history of the group in the form of a bio-pic starting from their discovery until Left Eye’s untimely death. Is it only a must see for fans or will it be able to appeal to the younger generation as well, who did not grow listening to any TLC music?

TLC always had a strong energy. When you saw them on MTV (remember this was before the internet) they would be joking a lot and came across as three women who were always having fun. Replicating that in a movie would depend on how convincing others could portray TLC. Drew Sidora is T-Boz, Lil Mama plays Left Eye and Keke Palmer transforms into Chilli. All three actresses do a great job and it is Lil Mama who really stands out as the resemblance and mannerisms are uncanny. She really manages to disappear into her character. These three women have gone through a lot in their career, both professionally and on the private side and the movie does not shy away to show these moments. So it includes well-known moments like Left Eye burning down the house she was living in with her boyfriend, T-Boz battling sickle-cell, but also lesser known facts like Chilli having an abortion. For those unfamiliar with the TLC story the movie manages to summarise all the big events in their career.

As the remaining members were involved in the making of the movie it does not come as a surprise that some moments might appear only shortly or might have been twisted a bit. As an audience member you will probably never know the truth about each and every detail, but as a whole this can be forgiven. The movie expertly recreates interviews and videos and uses a lot of the hits that made the group famous. After watching it I could not help listening to their music again. It is something a lot of other people are doing as well as apparently the music of the group suddenly saw a rise in sales again. If you like their music this film is a must see, but even for those unfamiliar with the group it offers a good insight in the highs and lows they went through.