First of all, this was one funny damn video! Writer/Director Lawrence Elbert’s short feature “Behind the True Biography: Dionne” is a twisted parody of all those E! “True Hollywood Story” and VH-1 “Behind the Music” episodes we’ve all seen with rockstar has-beens and other celebrity ne’er-do-wells who spout off about their pathetic lives in a sad attempt to relaunch their flatlining careers — or to at least get someone to care about them for an hour.
Our hapless heroine is a pop music diva Dionne (Raynard Andre) who’s a bizarre amalgam of Dionne Warwick, Lola Folana and Diana Ross ( in the Supremes era). This mockumentary is made to look like a segment from one of the above named cable TV crap-fests. The part of the Dionne story we get to see is all about her relationship with an abusive thug named Gianni (Josh Shenkle) who has a tendency to haul off and belt the sexually ambiguous soul singer for no apparent reason. It doesn’t sound like it’d be funny, but Elbert makes it work. There’s an element of Three Stooges humor here that makes the whole thing seem particularly warped.
And, like any good diva, Dionne likes to call her “Psychic Friends”. Except –when Dionne calls — it’s Gianni on the other end of the phone, and he’s ready with a brutal uppercut! Pow!
Frankly, I was knocked out (pun intended) by this sick, little gem of a film.
