This is a fashion immersion, a star-promoting vehicle, rather like watching snakes at the zoo: fascinating but deadly. I didn't actively dislike it, and I did watch it all the way through. Mahogany is totally rooted in it's time, and in many ways--script, acting, music--it's fairly dreadful. Diana Ross, who has accomplished much of value in her lifetime, probably would rather erase this tacky romance from her resume, but there you are. And if you're reading this review, you are halfway to being trapped.
The Big Question is: should Diana choose her aging lover in Paris, including the promise of fashion immortality and unimaginable riches--or should she fly back to Chicago for the love of a good man and cook his dinner on a regular basis? After all, it is Billy Dee Williams. And Tony Perkins is around too,, probably strung out on something dangerous, making the film a few years after Psycho, still cruising on Norman Bates, so there's the added attraction of watching his shifty eyes never know quite where to land. This is one of those films that might be defined as one "for a very special kind of audience." I do believe it lacks general appeal.
The Big Question is: should Diana choose her aging lover in Paris, including the promise of fashion immortality and unimaginable riches--or should she fly back to Chicago for the love of a good man and cook his dinner on a regular basis? After all, it is Billy Dee Williams. And Tony Perkins is around too,, probably strung out on something dangerous, making the film a few years after Psycho, still cruising on Norman Bates, so there's the added attraction of watching his shifty eyes never know quite where to land. This is one of those films that might be defined as one "for a very special kind of audience." I do believe it lacks general appeal.