So there's gonna be a movie about Marvin Gaye...

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Cool thing is, it stars Jesse L. Martin (aka the black guy from Law and Order; admit it, that's what you call him) and is LONG overdue. I mean, has anyone's life story been BEGGING for a biopic as much as Marvin Gaye's? Lame thing is, Motown Corp. wasn't interested in cooperating so it's going to focus solely on post-Motown years. So lots of missed drama (and great music) there. But I'm still looking forward to it like crazy.

Marvin Gaye Biopic Moving Forward
February 06, 2006, 10:30 AM ET
Nellie Andreeva, The Hollywood Reporter

After years spent by various producers trying to get a Marvin Gaye biopic off the ground, a film about the legendary singer finally has been greenlighted. Jesse L. Martin is set to portray Gaye in "Sexual Healing," an independent drama written and to be directed by Lauren Goodman.

The movie chronicles the final years of Gaye, who, after years of battling drugs and having parted ways with Motown, exiled himself to Europe. There, he was rescued by promoter Freddy Cousaert, who helped Gaye record his biggest-selling album, "Midnight Love," which produced the comeback hit "Sexual Healing."

Gaye's life was cut short the day before his 45th birthday in 1984 after he was shot to death during an argument with his father.

"More than just being the voice of a generation, Marvin Gaye proved to be its very heartbeat," Goodman said. "As a filmmaker, I was drawn to tell the story of a human being who was never fully realized, one with faults and foibles and an uncommon grace expressed every time he picked up the microphone."

Originally, the project was intended to cover a larger portion of Gaye's life but was refocused on his final years because of rights issues with his Motown-produced records.

Production is slated to begin in May in Hungary and Germany. Martin, the star of NBC's veteran drama "Law & Order," most recently starred in Chris Columbus' feature adaptation of the hit musical "Rent."

― musically (musically), Monday, 6 February 2006 20:43 (twenty years ago)

that's not what i call him

― gear (gear), Monday, 6 February 2006 20:46 (twenty years ago)

That seems like very good casting, though I have to admit I don't think I've seen Martin asked to express any emotions much beyond "genial."

― nabisco (nabisco), Monday, 6 February 2006 20:47 (twenty years ago)

I call him "that guy who was way too good for Ally McBeal."

― nabisco (nabisco), Monday, 6 February 2006 20:47 (twenty years ago)

Sometimes he looks a bit mad, or out of breath, almost always when he's been chasing someone.

― deej.. (deej..), Monday, 6 February 2006 20:49 (twenty years ago)

He got shot in one episode but I only remember him responding genially.

― deej.. (deej..), Monday, 6 February 2006 20:51 (twenty years ago)

Lame thing is, Motown Corp. wasn't interested in cooperating so it's going to focus solely on post-Motown years.

Without Temmi Terrell colapsing on stage in his arms? They should have just waited 'til they could do it right.

I've thought for a long time that this could be a music biopic that has an authentic tragic arc, rather than the usual "then I hit bottom" storyline.

― bendy (bendy), Monday, 6 February 2006 20:53 (twenty years ago)

I was really afraid that Lenny Kravitz was going to be cast in this one, too.

― darin (darin), Monday, 6 February 2006 21:43 (twenty years ago)

I hear Gilbert Gottfried is slated to play the role of David Ritz. He'll occasionally come on-screen just to say "SAY. DID YOU KNOW I HELPED WRITE THE SONG SEXUAL HEALING?!"

― vartman (novaheat), Monday, 6 February 2006 22:25 (twenty years ago)

Ha ha ha, awesome.

― Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Monday, 6 February 2006 22:59 (twenty years ago)

i'm sort of amazed they didn't cast jamie foxx or will smith. ;-)

― having fun with stockholm cindy on stage (Jody Beth Rosen), Monday, 6 February 2006 23:02 (twenty years ago)

I hear Gilbert Gottfried is slated to play the role of David Ritz. He'll occasionally come on-screen just to say "SAY. DID YOU KNOW I HELPED WRITE THE SONG SEXUAL HEALING?!"

Huh. I figured they'd have him do a walk-on bit right at the climax of the murder scene to say, "OH, MARVIN!"

― Myke. (Myke Weiskopf), Monday, 6 February 2006 23:08 (twenty years ago)

I wonder who will play "The Hands of Marvin Gaye's Father"?

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Monday, 6 February 2006 23:08 (twenty years ago)

It's gonna be a DOOM-style p.o.v. shot.

― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Monday, 6 February 2006 23:12 (twenty years ago)

You, the audience, is Marvin Gaye's father.

― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Monday, 6 February 2006 23:13 (twenty years ago)

is?

― having fun with stockholm cindy on stage (Jody Beth Rosen), Monday, 6 February 2006 23:16 (twenty years ago)

(xpost)Hahaha!

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Monday, 6 February 2006 23:17 (twenty years ago)

Jesse L Martin actually looks kind of like Marvin Gaye (esp. if you shove more bags under his eyes.)

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Monday, 6 February 2006 23:18 (twenty years ago)

i smell product placement deal if there is a grits company that wants to get in on the ground floor.

― ziti sanskrit (sanskrit), Tuesday, 7 February 2006 01:17 (twenty years ago)

I think that they're going to save that one for the Al Green movie.

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Tuesday, 7 February 2006 18:15 (twenty years ago)

ha ha, you're right. massive self-pwnage there.

― ziti sanskrit (sanskrit), Tuesday, 7 February 2006 18:54 (twenty years ago)

two years pass...

I am so goddam psyched for the Marvin documentary coming up next week. Have any of you seen this yet? http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/database/gaye_m.html
Directed by Sam Pollard, who edited a ton of Spike Lee including When the Levees Broke, and directed some of Eyes on the Prize. Even the deleted scenes on the PBS site have me psyched.
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/database/gaye_footage/index.html

― dad a, Saturday, 3 May 2008 05:46 (eighteen years ago)

Those 'American Masters' docs are always great, but this has the potential to be even more so.

― Johnny Fever, Saturday, 3 May 2008 05:50 (eighteen years ago)

The bump. Documentary premieres tonight.

― dad a, Wednesday, 7 May 2008 16:13 (eighteen years ago)

God the vocal on Pride & Joy is one of the great vocal takes of the era

― J0hn D., Wednesday, 7 May 2008 16:30 (eighteen years ago)

Yeah, but only one hour? Should be two, minimum.

― Sara Sara Sara, Wednesday, 7 May 2008 16:35 (eighteen years ago)

(the documentary, I mean; to my knowledge, there is no unreleased one-hour take of "Pride & Joy")

― Sara Sara Sara, Wednesday, 7 May 2008 16:36 (eighteen years ago)

Noted, scheduled, even pre-approved by the girlfriend. 9pm. Written in pen.

― kenan, Wednesday, 7 May 2008 16:52 (eighteen years ago)

i didn't know that he was a session drummer or that he couldn't dance

― mizzell, Thursday, 8 May 2008 02:48 (eighteen years ago)

listening to here my dear now and damn Anger and Is that Enough are AWESOME

― mizzell, Thursday, 8 May 2008 02:48 (eighteen years ago)

The ending essentially says he committed suicide by his father's hand; that when he beat his dad up he wasn't just risking getting shot, he would have known it was bound to happen. That's awful. Is that the generally accepted version of the story?

― dad a, Thursday, 8 May 2008 03:39 (eighteen years ago)

Great doc by the way. Pollard did a good job of letting certain songs play out (especially effective use of What's Going On and Yesterday). As you'd expect the flow was pitch perfect. Great interviews, especially the Marvin footage. Indelible image: I loved when Marvin tapped Tammi on the shoulder to get her attention at the start of Ain't No Mountain and started singing, "Listen ..." And to bring this thread full circle, Jesse L. Martin narrated.

― dad a, Thursday, 8 May 2008 03:56 (eighteen years ago)

five years pass...

First peek:

― SongOfSam, Thursday, 19 September 2013 20:56 (twelve years ago)

Shit. Sorry.

― SongOfSam, Thursday, 19 September 2013 20:57 (twelve years ago)

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