There may have been more inauspicious movie starring debuts than singer Mariah Carey's, but not many. In this very artificial and seriously cliched film, she strikes a series of poses but doesn't act. Her few attempts to do so are painfully funny, and you feel embarrassed for her. Her singing style, so compelling on disc, seems mannered and over-melodramatic on film. Playing the mixed-race daughter of a woman who fails to cope, surprisingly in view of her own singing talent, Mariah emerges from an orphanage to be discovered by a DJ (Max Beesley, too intense in his dramatic scenes) who, like all such partners in films, loses it when overshadowed. The film's dialogue scenes lack impact, although its artifical developments could scarcely be called a story, and such script material as there is would defeat far better players than this odd-looking singer and a largely untalented cast. Mild-mannered Terrence Howard, who does have talent, is miscast as the villain. A considerable disaster.