Shania: A Life in Eight Albums (2005) starring Meredith Henderson, Shenae Grimes, Reva Timbers, Megan Follows, Eric Schweig, Lynne Cormack directed by Jerry Ciccoritti Movie Review

Shania: A Life in Eight Albums (2005)   2/52/52/52/52/5


Shania: A Life in Eight Albums (2005) starring Meredith Henderson, Shenae Grimes, Reva Timbers

Shania a Sort of Life

Like with many biopics my interest in watching "Shania: A Life in Eight Albums" is not out of any fascination with the person in question but out of a pure love of the genre. As such I have to say right from the start that I have no idea as to how true to Shania Train's story it is although I am aware that not only was it made with out her assistance but because of this none of her well known songs appear in the movie, instead featuring the character of Eilleen Shania Twain singing general songs.

Now as such "Shania: A Life in Eight Albums" is an okay movie when you take in to consideration that it is a made for TV movie. But it does have an almost generic feel about it because it covers several bases which are covered by other biopics of musical stars. We see how during her childhood she had a pushy mother who saw her talent and pushed her to perform; we see how money was tight in the family whilst later on we see how despite having a talent had a battle to make it as a singer. It doesn't immediately make "Shania: A Life in Eight Albums" bad but it does make it feel routine.

What does make "Shania: A Life in Eight Albums" a little bad is that it ends up disjointed as it frequently ends up coming across as just a series of important events rather than coming together to tell a flowing story. As such it makes it a little hard for those who watch without already knowing the ins and outs of Shania's early years. And this is made worse by some anonymous directing which at times feels like it is trying to be fly on the wall and then next in your face.

The one thing it has going for it is the performers and I say performers for a reason. You see the acting is generally not very good and frequently feels amateurish but when any of the actors who play Shania sings; be it Reva Timbers, Shenae Grimes or Meredith Henderson you can appreciate why they were cast as they can all deliver musically.

What this all boils down to is that "Shania: A Life in Eight Albums" is an okay generic biopic about a struggling artist who worked hard to become great. But as an in-depth biopic of Shania Twain it comes up short with a disjointed style which makes it little more than a series of events rather than a flowing narrative.


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