Doo-Wop Dreams
'Fools' Stars
Frankie Lyman lived hard and died at 26. Along the way, he wrote the classic song "Why Do Fools Fall In Love" and got married. Three times. Trouble is, he never bothered to get divorced from any of his three wives. And once he died, all of them wanted a piece of his estate.
The new comedy "Why Do Fools Fall In Love" chronicles the legal battle between Frankie Lyman's three "widows," and flashes back to show how all of them ended up marrying the same man. Larenz Tate plays Lyman, and Vivica A. Fox, Halle Berry and Lela Rochon play his wives. The four stars gathered in New York to discuss the film recently. And although the cast of the movie is largely female -- and almost exclusively African-American -- the actors insisted is neither a "chick flick" or a "black film."
According to Rochon, "You don't walk away and say that is a good black movie -- you say it is a good movie."
"The story is color-less," said Halle Berry. "It's about the characters and their humanity. It doesn't matter that they're black. It's just a movie about people." Berry went on to note: "The music is something that is clearly a crossover. Frankie Lyman fans were white teenage girls."
Vivica A. Fox also stressed the cross-cultural appeal of Lyman's music. "Music transcends color lines," she said. "I don't want people to see African American faces on the billboard and think it is only a black film or think it is just a chick flick."
Said Larenz Tate, who plays the "fool" of the movie's title "I ultimately want people to be satisfied and thoroughly entertained. Also that it's OK to fall in love -- just don't be a complete fool!"
-- Sean Doorly
(Written for Premiere Magazine Online)