Review: TV One’s Love Under New Management: The Miki Howard Story

I wouldn’t say TV One’s Love Under New Management: The Miki Howard Story should be in theaters as some have argued. It doesn’t have to do with the quality of the film as much as my own belief that biopics in general shouldn’t be feature films unless they are about someone who is or was a major international figure who shifted global consciousness. Still, after seeing The Miki Howard Story it is perfectly understandable that some would believe it should be on the big screen.

Director Christine Swanson (For the Love of Ruth) and the cast hit all the right notes and ended up doing an exceptional job telling an extraordinary story. The cast includes Teyonah Parris (Chiraq, Dear White People, Mad Men), Gary Dourdan (CSI, For The Love of Ruth), Darius McCrary (Family Matters), Vanessa Bell Calloway (Shameless), and Lisa Raye McCoy (Beauty Shop). Milini Khan made her on-screen debut in the film playing her own mother Chaka Khan, a close friend of Howard’s. Shot in just three weeks, the ensemble showed the audience the details of a life that was very often out of control using just the right amount of discipline to keep it from veering over into the melodramatic.

Miki Howard came to prominence in the R&B music scene in the late 80’s and early 90’s. Although she never achieved the level of crossover popularity as her contemporary Whitney Houston, she and her music was and is celebrated by a large cadre of fans. Her music is of that rare breed with the ability to take the listener back in time upon hearing it. The woman herself is exceedingly charismatic, drawing you into her sphere whether you are at first willing or not. You simply can’t help but root for her.

Teyonah Parris does a masterful job in her portrayal of Howard. Her Miki develops a tough outer shell but still somehow retains the quality of a child looking for the love and attention she never received from an absent father and an emotionally unavailable and sometimes downright hostile mother played by Vanessa Bell Calloway. Some of the scenes are shot in shadow- a reflection of the looming disaster that is inevitable for a young woman with a great deal of physical freedom but no love or support to guide her steps. It also also acts as something of a metaphor for another circumstance of Howard’s childhood. That of her gospel-singing mother’s homosexual lifestyle. Howard mentioned in a Q&A after a screening of the film that, “in our world nothing was wrong with being gay.” However when she went out into the world or to school for example, she was seen as strange because of her family situation. One need not think too long or deeply to understand how emotionally isolating that would be for anyone, least of all a child during the 1970’s.

Miki as she got older, like the old country song states, looked for love in all the wrong places. Gary Dourdan plays singer and producer Augie Johnson to cool perfection. As the character narrates in the film, Augie was Howard’s “first everything”. Although it is Augie who solidifies her confidence in her talent and gives her her first real break, it appears he began seeing her while she was still just a teen and he was a decade older. He is also casually neglectful of her in their intimate relationship treating her like a plant he forgot he bought and never watered. When she finally confronts him at the studio after the umpteenth night alone with the kids, he of course has company. He cruelly tells her in front of his companions that he has never had any intention of marrying her. The scales having finally fallen from her eyes, she takes the children and leaves ending up with a flourishing record career with Atlantic Records and her healthiest relationship yet after meeting Gerald Levert. It seems Gerald Levert deeply cared for Howard. Darius McCrary, who plays him in the film, absolutely nails it as the lovestruck singer and his and Parris’ chemistry is palpable. If I am to judge by his turn in this film, he is terribly underused overall in the industry and I hope to see him in more projects.

It is at this juncture in the film that the glamour quotient goes way up. There is a lot of Howard’s music. There are lots of sequins, shoulder pads, and statement headgear. The costume designer Darryle Johnson had worked with Howard in the 90’s and had retained many of her outfits so he was able to lend the film true authenticity from a sartorial standpoint. In addition, there are some breathtaking shots of New York City at night and of Central Park that alone are worth the watch. Alas, the relationship with Levert as much as it was filled with affection, came to an abrupt end after she confronted him about his use of prescription painkillers.

The ensuing years found Howard in deeply physically and emotionally abusive relationship with the father of her youngest child, Eddie Phelps played by Amari Cheatom who infused the character with a level of complexity a less skilled actor to would be unable to reach in such a role. The consequences of Phelps’ behavior, as the film shows us were far-reaching. Howard lost her record deal with Giant records because he assaulted one of the executives and as word got around, no one wanted to work with her even though she had separated from Phelps. She also descended into a fierce cocaine addiction which it took her five years to recover from when she finally went for help.

The film isn’t all darkness and despair however and is leavened with moments of levity. The viewer will honestly laugh out loud. One particularly funny scene details Howard’s arrest in Los Angeles for driving while intoxicated. It is a long scene and there are only two characters- Howard and the caucasian officer who stops her. Though his being named “Officer White” is a bit on the nose, Parris’ performance is so spot on and so genuinely laugh out loud funny, it is easy to look past that.

The takeaway is that this film well-written, well-directed, and well-acted. It is an interesting life story told in a bold way and guaranteed to hold your attention from the opening credits to the end.

Love Under New Management: The Miki Howard Story premiered on TV One on June 12th. Check your listings for VOD and repeat airings.

#TeyonahParris #MikiHoward #DariusMcCrary #tvone #biopics #90sRB #VIDEO