Mary J. Blige's My Life | |
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Directed by | Vanessa Roth |
Produced by |
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Starring | |
Cinematography | Kalilah Robinson |
Edited by |
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Music by | Mervyn Warren |
Production companies |
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Distributed by | Amazon Studios [1] |
Release dates |
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Running time | 82 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Mary J. Blige's My Life is a 2021 American documentary film about the musical career of American recording artist Mary J. Blige directed by Vanessa Roth. Commemorating the 25th anniversary of her 1994 studio album My Life , the film was released on June 25, 2021, on Amazon Prime Video.
My Life revisits the early life and career of Mary J. Blige, with a focus on her 1994 studio album of the same name. The film features appearances by Andre Harrell, Blige's sisters, the My Life songwriters, Sean Combs, [2] Method Man, Alicia Keys, Tyler Perry, and Nas, [3] as well as footage of Blige performing the album live for the first time during its 25th anniversary in 2019. [4]
In December 2019, Amazon Studios and Entertainment One announced a documentary film on Mary J. Blige. [5] [6] The film was produced by Amazon Studios in collaboration with Blige's production company Blue Butterfly. [7] It was directed by Vanessa Roth, with Blige serving as executive producer. [8] The film also features music composed by Mervyn Warren. [9]
On June 23, 2021, the film received its world premiere at the Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City. [10] It was made available digitally on-demand through streaming platform Amazon Prime Video on June 25, 2021. [11] A ballad by Mary J. Blige titled "Hourglass", co-written by Teddy Riley, Andy Murray, Benjamin Wright, and Romans, was released in conjunction with the film. [12]
The film received mixed reviews from critics. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 60% of 15 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.6/10. [13] Metacritic , which uses a weighted average , assigned the film a score of 56 out of 100, based on 4 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. [14]
Johnny Loftus of Decider stated that it "celebrates the lasting influence of an incredible album" while also highlighting "the singer and songwriter’s profound struggle for wellness". [15] Writing for the Los Angeles Times , Michael Ordona praised the film for "its fan testimonials of the album’s impact and Blige’s emotional recollections of the songs' roots." [16] Robert Daniels of RogerEbert.com described the film as "fortuitously (providing) a love letter to Blige’s fans that teems with the same truthful message as the singer's best music". [17] In a review for Variety , Andrew Barker wrote that "as a fan-centric retrospective, (the film) hits plenty of the right notes; but as a chance to more thoroughly explore a complicated, still-influential landmark, it never digs quite deeply enough." [18]