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Bruce Hall: Someone had to walk a fine line between drawing attention to Whitney Houston's participation in this film without appearing to exploit it. This is because not everyone was aware she was even in it. Lukewarm reviews won't help. Poignant as it may be, Houston's presence wasn't going to salvage a mediocre film. I viewed Sparkle as more of a morbid curiosity than anything else, and it would seem I was not alone.

Felix Quinonez: I think this is a very good performance. Yes, it's Whitney Houston's last performance but unlike Michael Jackson's This is It she's not the star of the movie. Plus it's not really a showcase for her music. Michael Jackson's movie was him performing the hits that made him a superstar. Plus Sparkle had a $14 million budget so the studio should be very happy with this result.

Tim Briody: Obviously Sparkle got lots of free publicity from containing the final performance of Whitney Houston, but I wouldn't underestimate that it also has the first acting role by American Idol winner Jordin Sparks. In the terms of stardom post-American Idol, there's a pretty huge drop off after you list Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood, but she's smack in second tier, the Adam Lambert/Chris Daughtry/Jennifer Hudson level, where she's still somewhat relevant. After that is the Taylor Hicks level. (Who? Exactly.) I'm not going to say that it was a huge boost (you can thank Whitney Houston for most of its weekend) but she's not to be counted out.

David Mumpower: Bruce has made the point that matters here. Whenever movie distributors face situations such as this one, there is a delicate balance between capitalizing on the death of a celebrity versus celebrating and eulogizing a lost talent. I was relatively confident that if I was wrong about Sparkle, I would be low rather than high. The opposite proved to be true. I think it's commendable that Sony was respectful to the point of the decision proving detrimental to box office. That's a rare decision in this industry. Felix is correct that with a budget this modest, Sparkle is going to be a winner no matter what.

Kim Hollis: If I didn't work for a movie website, I'd have no idea this film even existed. Obviously, it had enough awareness to generate a decent audience, but I am quite confident that I did not see a single ad for Sparkle. Not on TV, not in print, not online. And I'm a rare person who pays attention to advertising. I agree that it's admirable that Sony didn't heavily push this hard as Houston's last film. The people who wanted to find it had the built-in awareness already.

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