We rate Mariah Carey's big movie debut

THE ROLE Rising pop star Billie Frank

DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY Low. Aside from the film’s (alleged) mid-’80s setting, Billie’s mixed-race roots, difficult childhood, and climb from backup singer to chart-topper parallel Mariah’s own story, right down to her troubled romance with a record producer.

LEVEL OF SUCCESS 0 Is there anything worse than getting out-acted by a common housecat? Carey’s stupefyingly blank performance was so Titanically bad, it almost took her singing career down with the ship. Ah well — at least equally abysmal efforts by Glitter‘s screenwriter (Kate Lanier), director (Vondie Curtis-Hall), and leading man (Max Beesley) mean Mariah wasn’t all to blame.

TASTY TIDBIT He may not cop to it after last year’s well-received performances in Crash and Hustle & Flow, but Terrence Howard still owes a small karmic debt for appearing in, as EW’s video review calls Glitter, its generation’s ”very own cult crapsterpiece.”

EW MOVIE GRADE D (Read the review)