Celine Dion is back at the movies

Celine Dion is at the movies. Not that she had not been there before. The Canadian diva has done some bits of acting in the past. She was seen in TV dramas like Touched by an Angel and in comedies like The Nanny. On the big screen, she played herself in Ocean’s Twelve and in Camp. She gave voice to a Piggy and sang for a maiden in Quest for Camelot.

None of those, though, compare to what she does in the romantic comedy Love Again, where she acts, sings in the soundtrack and is also the executive producer. In a way this major foray into the big screen takes Celine to where her meteoric rise to international fame began.

The movies played a significant role in Celine’s rise to stardom. She was already a big star in Canada and in France and French-speaking countries back in the late ‘80s. But she still had to win recognition in other areas like Asia. It was the movies that did this for her.

In 1991, Celine was tapped by Disney to sing the theme for the animated feature Beauty and the Beast. She did such a great job in the duet with Peabo Bryson that the song became a hit. In no time at all, she was asked to duet When I Fall in Love with Clive Griffin for the soundtrack of Sleepless in Seattle. And again, the recording became a big hit.

The success of those themes helped propel Celine to global prominence. And the hits done in her trademark emotional rock ballads started coming one after the other. The Power of Love, All By Myself, It’s All Coming Back to Me Now, Immortality with the Bee Gees, Tell Him with Barbra Streisand and many more.

Of course, by that time Celine had become the go-to singer for important movie themes. She did Because You Loved Me for Up Close and Personal. She sang The Prayer with Andrea Bocelli for the animated feature Quest for Camelot. And who can think of Titanic, the first motion picture to gross a billion bucks without Celine and the unforgettable theme My Heart Will Go On. And now with Love Again, she is back at the movies.

Love Again tells the story of Mira, a woman who is mourning the loss of her fiancé. In one particularly sad moment, she sent out lovelorn messages to his mobile phone. Of course, the number has already been reassigned to somebody else. That somebody is Rob, a journalist who gets curious about the sender of the beautifully written heartfelt messages and now wants to meet her in person.

So how does Celine figure in this? Rob is assigned to interview the big pop star Celine. He opens up to her and asks for her help to find Mira. Maybe because she sings all those romantic songs, she will know what to do about his feelings for a woman he still has to meet. And she does.

The story is told with melodramatic music performed by Celine. Aside from the theme song, Celine also released a full soundtrack. These include new tracks wherein her sweet but powerful vocals sound as great as ever. I’ll Be, Waiting on You, The Gift and the lovely Love of My Life, which will surely delight her fans to no end and should bring her back to the hit charts.

Of course, it does not hurt at all that this movie experience also includes some of her biggest sellers. It’s All Coming Back to Me Now, All By Myself, Where Does My Heart Beat Now, A New Day Has Come, That’s the Way It Is and the strongly affecting Courage, a piano-driven ballad about personal loss.

Love Again stars Priyanka Chopra Jonas, the gorgeous wife of Nick, one of the Jonas brothers, with Sam Neughan and Celine Dion as herself.