Toni Braxton: Unbreak My Heart | |
---|---|
Based on | Toni Braxton Unbreak My Heart a Memoir by Toni Braxton |
Teleplay by | Susan McMartin Nicole Jefferson |
Directed by | Vondie Curtis-Hall |
Starring | Lex Scott Davis Debbi Morgan Gavin Houston Cortney Scott Wright Skye P. Marshall LaToya Franklyn Tiffany Hines |
Music by | Laura Karpman |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
Production | |
Producers | Craig Baumgarten (exec.) Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds Toni Braxton (also exec.) Erik Kritzer (exec.) Marcus Grant (exec.) Towanda Braxton |
Running time | 88 minutes |
Production companies | LINK Entertainment Lighthouse Pictures |
Original release | |
Network | Lifetime |
Release | January 23, 2016 |
Toni Braxton: Unbreak My Heart (also known as Unbreak My Heart) is a 2016 American television biographical film about R&B singer Toni Braxton. It premiered at Lifetime on January 23, 2016.
It derives its title from Braxton's book Toni Braxton Unbreak My Heart a Memoir and her most notable hit "Un-Break My Heart". The film stars Lex Scott Davis as Toni Braxton, Debbi Morgan as Evelyn Braxton, Skye P. Marshall as Towanda Braxton, Tiffany Hines as Tamar Braxton and Gavin Houston as Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds. The film was directed by Vondie Curtis Hall and written by Susan McMartin, Toni Braxton and Nicole Jefferson. [1]
Toni Braxton is one of five daughters raised in a devoutly Methodist household by their mother, Evelyn, and reverend father, Michael. Evelyn dreams of her daughters becoming famous singers. After the sisters audition as a group for record executive L.A. Reid, only Toni is offered a recording contract. Despite initial fears of upsetting her family, Toni accepts. Evelyn makes Toni promise to help her sisters once she has found success.
At LaFace Records, Toni records with singer and producer Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds. She releases a successful self-titled debut album in 1993. Toni hires her sisters as backup singers and dancers. After learning Toni had breast augmentation, the conservative Evelyn fears success is changing her daughter for the worse, but Toni's sisters are supportive. Toni is nominated for several Grammy awards and wins Best New Artist. She follows this up with the hit ballad "Un-Break My Heart," resulting in her biggest success yet.
During her latest tour, Toni learns that she is losing money due to the shows’ large scale and a lack of sponsors. After the tour ends, her manager informs her that she signed a bad record contract and is now $4 million in debt. Toni declares Chapter 7 bankruptcy and sues LaFace. She wins the case, but a condition of her settlement is to not publicly discuss it for a decade.
Toni and keyboardist Keri Lewis begin a romantic relationship. When she unexpectedly gets pregnant, Toni decides to have an abortion because she's been using the acne medication isotretinoin, which can cause birth defects. Eventually, Toni and Keri get married and have two healthy sons: Denim and Diezel.
For the sake of stability, Toni accepts a residency at the Flamingo Las Vegas. When Diezel is diagnosed with autism, she arranges for him to receive the best therapy available. Meanwhile, Evelyn and Michael's marriage ends when she discovers that he's had a mistress for nine years.
Toni suffers from fatigue and fainting spells, culminating in her being hospitalized for cardiac arrest. She recovers, but is diagnosed with lupus and told to reduce her workload. She keeps her diagnosis a secret and cancels her Las Vegas residency, resulting in litigation from the show's vendors. Forced to declare bankruptcy, Keri and Toni's already strained marriage ends in a divorce.
Toni reveals her lupus diagnosis to the public, hoping people will understand why she can no longer work at an intense pace. Evelyn apologizes for having placed the burden of financially supporting the whole family upon Toni's shoulders. The other Braxton sisters convince Toni to do a reality show with them called Braxton Family Values.
Feeling burnt out, Toni announces her retirement from the music industry. Babyface, not wanting her to quit, proposes they record together again. She agrees as long as the songwriting process is an equal collaboration. The resulting record wins the Grammy Award for Best R&B Album in 2015. The epilogue shows the real Toni Braxton playing the piano, singing "Un-break my Heart," while text lists her many accomplishments.
On September 15, 2015 it was announced Lifetime Network green lighted the original movie, based on Toni Braxton's memoir "Unbreak My Heart". [2] [3] The film was shot in Vancouver, Canada during fall 2015 confirmed by Braxton in an interview with ABC News.
"I tried to stay away from the film's set in Vancouver as much as possible. "I didn't want to make Lexi uncomfortable. I wanted her to be relaxed playing me and it was really hard for me to be objective," she explained of her absence."
— Toni Braxton, ABC News [4]
In early December, 2015, Braxton announced the premiere date for the biopic on her Instagram account. [5] On December 17, 2015 the trailer was released. [6] On January 23, 2016 the biopic premiered in the United States on Lifetime TV and April 23, 2016 in the United Kingdom on Lifetime UK. [7]
Hollywood.com gave a mixed response towards the biopic stating "Toni Braxton's biopic was like watching whip lash – heavily censored whip lash. There were so many parts left out that watching the movie felt like a parody at times. The casting wasn’t much better but aside from these glaring issues, the movie was very well watched and anticipated." [8]
The film's premiere generated 3.6 million viewers, earning the highest rating for an original movie with adults ages 25–54, women 25-54 and women 18-49 since Whitney , the January 2015 biopic on Whitney Houston. [9]
Toni Braxton: Unbreak My Heart was released digitally on to Amazon on January 22, 2016 and to DVD under the title Toni Braxton: The Movie Event on June 14, 2016 available in region 1 (U.S and Canada only). [10] [11]
Kenneth Brian Edmonds, better known by his stage name Babyface, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He has written and produced over 26 number-one R&B hits throughout his career and has won 13 Grammy Awards. He was ranked number 20 on NME's 50 of The Greatest Producers Ever list.
Toni Michele Braxton is an American singer, songwriter, actress and television personality. She has sold over 70 million records worldwide and is one of the best-selling female artists in history. Braxton has won seven Grammy Awards, nine Billboard Music Awards, seven American Music Awards, and numerous other accolades. In 2011, Braxton was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame. In 2017 she was honored with the Legend Award at the Soul Train Music Awards.
Deborah Ann "Debbi" Morgan is an American film and television actress. Morgan has appeared in a number of film and TV productions, and may be best known for the role of Angie Baxter–Hubbard on the ABC soap opera All My Children.
Tamar Estine Braxton is an American singer, songwriter, actress and television personality.
More Than a Woman is the fifth studio album by American singer Toni Braxton, released on November 18, 2002, by Arista Records. The album contained both hip hop and urban adult contemporary sounds, as well as some softer and more contemporary melodies. Throughout the project, Braxton worked with her sister Tamar and husband Keri Lewis on most of the songs, who had written and produced material for her previous album. She also worked with hip hop producers and rappers such as Irv Gotti, The Neptunes, Mannie Fresh and Loon, as well as Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins, protégé Big Bert and his domestic partner, singer Brandy.
The Braxtons are an American musical quintet consisting of singer Toni Braxton and her younger sisters, Traci Braxton, Towanda Braxton, Trina Braxton, and Tamar Braxton. Despite being commercially unsuccessful, the group's first single, "Good Life", led to oldest sister Toni's solo career. All five members reunited in 2011 to star in the WE tv reality television series Braxton Family Values alongside their mother, Evelyn Braxton.
Libra is the sixth studio album by American singer Toni Braxton, released on September 27, 2005, by Blackground Records. It marked Braxton's debut on the label, following her split with longtime record company Arista Records in 2003 after the release of her album More Than a Woman (2002), which was commercially less successful than its predecessors. The album's title is a reference to Braxton's astrological sign, Libra.
"Love Shoulda Brought You Home" is the debut solo single by American singer Toni Braxton. It was written by Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, Daryl Simmons, and Bo Watson and produced by Edmonds and Simmons along with L.A. Reid. Originally written for singer Anita Baker, who had to decline due to her pregnancy, it was eventually recorded by Braxton and featured on the soundtrack to Reginald Hudlin's romantic comedy film Boomerang (1992). The song was later also included on Braxton's self titled debut album (1993). Lyrically, the slow-groove R&B song is saga of betrayal and infidelity that depicts a heartbroken Braxton.
"Seven Whole Days" is a song performed by American singer Toni Braxton. It serves as the third single from her self-titled debut album (1993). It was released on October 8, 1993 by LaFace and Arista Records. Written and produced by Kenneth Edmonds, Antonio Reid and Daryl Simmons, the track describes a romance that was fading. As the single was not commercially released in the United States, it was ineligible to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, and only managed to chart on the Hot 100 Airplay at number forty-eight in early March 1994. Nevertheless, it successfully topped the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay in late January 1994.
So Many Ways is the debut album by American R&B vocal group The Braxtons. Released on August 6, 1996, the album produced four singles; "So Many Ways", "Only Love", "The Boss" – which peaked at number-one in the Billboard Dance Charts – and "Slow Flow". "So Many Ways" peaked at No. 26 on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts and No. 3 on the Heatseekers Albums chart.
"Good Life" is a 1990 single by The Braxtons, featuring Toni Braxton and her four sisters: Towanda, Trina, Traci, and Tamar. "Good Life", written by the German songwriting/production team Klarmann/Weber, was Toni Braxton's first professional recording.
Traci Renee Braxton was an American singer, reality television personality, and radio personality.
Trina Evette Braxton-Scales is an American singer and reality television personality. She is the younger sister of R&B singing icon Toni Braxton. Trina had her first big break in music in 1992 as a founding member of the R&B group the Braxtons, formed with her sisters. After losing two members, The Braxtons released their only album, So Many Ways, as a trio in 1996 along with four singles: "So Many Ways", "Only Love", "The Boss", and "Slow Flow".
Braxton Family Values is an American reality television series that airs on WE tv and premiered on April 12, 2011. It chronicles the lives of the Braxton sisters—Toni, Traci, Towanda, Trina and Tamar and their mother, Evelyn.
Andre Hall is an American actor and model. He is best known for his role as Keri Lewis in the Toni Braxton Bio-pic and as Danny Harris in the Tyler Perry sitcom Love Thy Neighbor.
The 2013 Summer Tour was the third concert tour by American pop/R&B singer Toni Braxton. The tour kicked off in Las Vegas on August 9, 2013 and ended in Atlanta on August 31, 2013. Toni's sisters, Trina and Towanda Braxton, were featured on the tour as background singers.
Braxton Family Christmas is a Christmas album, and second studio album overall, by R&B female group The Braxtons. It is the only album to feature all five Braxton sisters. The album was released on October 30, 2015, by Def Jam.
"Hurt You" is a song by American recording artists Toni Braxton and Babyface. It was written by Braxton and Babyface along with Daryl Simmons and Antonio Dixon for their collaborative studio album Love, Marriage & Divorce (2014), while Babyface helmed production. The song was released on August 17, 2013, as the lead single from the album. It topped the US Adult R&B Songs and was ranked fifth on the chart's year-end listing.
Alexis Scott Davis is an American actress. She is known for playing Nya in The First Purge and Toni Braxton in the 2016 Lifetime television film Toni Braxton: Unbreak My Heart. In 2017, she had a starring role in the short-lived CBS drama series Training Day. She played Quiara in The L Word: Generation Q.
Toni Braxton & Babyface Live was a 4-day co-headlining concert tour in Africa by American recording artists Toni Braxton and Babyface, in support of their duet album, Love, Marriage & Divorce. The outing started on August 28, in Zimbabwe and ended on September 3, in Johannesburg. This marked the first time both singers embarked on a tour together. Highlights of the tour, included performing together their Grammy winning duet single "Hurt You".