The Five Heartbeats

Townsend does more than merely track the travails of five song stylists; he quivers and rages with their injustices, vulnerabilities, uncertainties and desires.

This is not only a biography with music, but also a thoughtful look at the way five young men from a poor but nurturing black neighborhood find success, and deal with it.

Robert Townsend co-wrote, directed and stars in the film, one whose sincerity does a lot to cover the amateurishness with which the film was made.

The rise and fall of a flashy, fictional 1960s rock group.

The charitable might be tempted to describe The Five Heartbeats as wholesome and well-intentioned -- but so is a 6-year-old who just crayon-scrawled "I love cookies" on the living room wall.