"I'M Mrs. Frankie Lymon!!!!"      

WHY DO FOOLS FALL IN LOVE (R) 

Reviewed August 29, 1998 - Check out the Why Do Fools Fall in Love? Website.

Taking us back to the early days of Rock and Roll during the 50's, Why Do Fools Fall in Love tells the story of the meteoric rise (and sudden fall) of Frankie Lymon (Larenz Tate), a teenaged doo-wop singer thrown into musical stardom when his song, "Why Do Fools Fall in Love?", became a chart-busting hit.  The story is told from an unusual perspective, with Frankie already dead from a heroin overdose as the film begins, and with his life seen through the eyes of three women who were all apparently wives (now widows) of the young singer.  The wives:

That's one, two, three wives, none of whom ever divorced Lymon before his untimely death at the age of 25 in 1968.  Flash forward to 1986, and the three wives are fighting over the royalties from Lymon's work.  With each wife shedding light on the Frankie Lymon she knew and loved, we learn about Lymon in a jigsaw-puzzle, piecemeal manner, steadily catching small fragments of his life as the film jumps back and forth between the '60s and the '80s.  With Tate, Fox, Berry and Rochon each turning in some highly charismatic performances, the film somehow manages to stay afloat amidst all this flashback/flashforward activity, but unfortunately things never quite come together in Why Do Fools Fall in Love.  Who was Frankie Lymon, really?  The film gives us enough so that we truly want to know the answer to this question, but unfortunately the answer never appears.  Instead, the Frankie Lymon we are presented with is highly anecdotal, a tragic caricature of what happens to those who reach the top too quickly, and their impact on those around them as they come crashing back down.  With such great talent on board in this film, Why Do Fools Fall in Love could have easily come through with much more depth than it actually does.  Unfortunately, what we get instead is a somewhat superficial pass at Frankie Lymon's life mixed with some catchy tunes from the '50s and '60s, and some engaging performances by Tate, Fox, Berry and Rochon.  Overall this is a watchable, though not necessarily memorable, film.

Responses from cyberspace--thanks for writing!

delilah gives this movie  stars. (2/28/01)

chaconchristy@aol.com gives this movie  stars: "Lorenz Tate - Love @ 1st site......." (4/10/00)

Kee28@hotmail.com gives this movie  stars: "I enjoyed the movie. When I watched it I thought there would be more but overall it was good." (5/27/99)

talanda gives this movie  stars: "The movie was a great portrayal of lymons life. Lorenz Tate kinda over did it with his lipsynching. besides the bad lipsynching the movie was great." (9/28/98)

walker_tericka@bah.com gives this movie  stars: "I loved it. I would like to see more on the african american performers of the 50s and 60s. I didn't even know who Frankie Lymon was before the move. I don't respect the fact that he had more than one wife but I thought the movie had substance enought to make us wonder who Frankie Lymon was, i don't think a Auto or Bio is suppose to tell all, I really enjoyed the movie. I couldn't wait for the soundtrack (Rhino) to come out, I listen to it everyday." (9/27/98)