Cameron Crowe Developing Marvin Gaye Bio-Pic

If you ever want to read a good biography of a legendary musician, pick up a book by David Ritz. Among his subjects are Ray Charles, Smokey Robinson, and the Queen of Soul. He's also chipped in to help other musicians with their autobiographies. But his best book, in my opinion, is one of the most lyrical and potent rock biographies around, Divided Soul: The Life & Times of Marvin Gaye. I mentioned the book briefly when it was announced that Jesse L. Martin - good casting - was lined up to play Marvin in a bio-pic (produced by James Gandolfini, strangely). They're not using Ritz' book and apparently, neither is Cameron Crowe, who has been quietly putting together a movie about Gaye for some time. Collider reports that Crowe has been developing the film for over three years, and he has secured "extensive" music rights and the cooperation of Berry Gordy, Jr. to pursue the film. However, it's at a standstill until Crowe and Sony agree on a star and a budget. Why wouldn't Crowe, himself a former rock journalist, lean on Ritz' fine book? Because it's less about the drama in Gaye's life and more about the music. That, to me, is a damn shame. Even though it's well-known that Gaye was murdered by his own father - odd even by rock music tragedy standards - the tension between father and son went back as far as you could care to look. To be sure, very few black artists were ever as significant as Marvin Gaye before he made his mark, so I'm definitely not saying pursuing his impact is a bad thing. But the story about his music is just incomplete without everything else. I have no idea if the Jesse L. Martin flick will go into more of that stuff, or even where that project stands at this point. It's actually almost remarkable that this subject hasn't been undertaken before, and there are countless other stories about significant African Americans who broke the color barrier in popular culture that really ought to be immortalized through film.

Comments

[Kim]

So happy to hear some news on this finally! Really looking forward to seeing Jesse L. Martin in this role.

[Betty Hunter]

The artist known as T.I. or T.I.P. is the perfect actor and singer for starring in and portraying the life story of Marvin Pentz Gaye. All the best on filming this mega-movie.