This would be a truly great film if it weren't supposed to tell the story and convey the musical greatness of Billie Holiday. For entertainment and for a picture of life for black musicians of the time this is indeed good. But this was supposed to give us Billie Holiday's story and that story still remains to be depicted on the screen Diane Ross did prove herself as a worthy actress in this and it's sad that this movie remains as the only one of hers that showed her in that light. However, this remains a high quality fictional story of a fascinating fictional black singer. It has its great scenes.<br /><br />So I stand with an 8/10 rating of this as a film. And I recommend this as a film. But sadly, I can not recommend it as a depiction of one of the great blues singers of all time. Maybe someday such a movie about the very real Billie Holiday will be made.