Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody (2022) User Reviews

Way too sanitised.

[Avwillfan89 · 6/10 · 7 February 2023]

I like a biopic as much as the next person. But when one creates a biopic, they have to show a different side to the person we know behind the celebrity, or something the average person doesn't really know up until this point.

This film ain't one of them.

The film takes up way too much of its runtime showing Whitney's iconic performances in their total. Which not many music biopics do and for good reason; we can just watch them elsewhere.

It also doesn't focus in too much on her personal life. The domestic and drug abuse between her and Bobbi was toned down, her relationship with Robyn, arguably the best moments in the film, are fleeting, and the film is way too nice to Clive Davis (not surprising since he executive produced the film) who was like her family, but also like her family, tried to mould her into something she was not.

It's clear that to this day, people still want to control Whitney's legacy. So as a result, the film cannot explore the complexities, flaws, turmoils and difficulties of this incredibly talented woman. Because there is no doubt, she was a one of a kind phenomenal singer.

But the film is not interested in going further into her inner emotional life - only scratching the surface and emphasising her talent.

I would suggest watching the Kevin MacDonald documentary, which focuses more on why Whitney ended her life the way she did and the clues to her inner turmoil, while also listing her contributions to the music world and the things she loved the most in life.

Whitney, Wikipedia Style, But Ackie Delivers

[EUyeshima · 6/10 · 24 April 2023]

If you can overlook the fact that she looks nothing like Whitney Houston, Naomi Ackie manages the impressive task of channeling the icon in a manner that feels both authentic and respectful. My problem with this overlong 2022 biopic is the Wikipedia-level approach that director Kasi Lemmons and screenwriter Anthony McCarten took in telling Houston's story with one familiar scene or performance moving to the next with little sense of dramatic transition. It comes as no surprise that McCarten wrote the similarly elliptical "Bohemian Rhapsody". Some moments (like the "How Will I Know?" video and the national anthem at the Super Bowl) were captured faithfully and with conviction by Ackie who lip-syncs to Houston quite effectively. Other moments felt like they belonged on Lifetime with honest revelations few and far between.

Painfully generic

[parksiet · 6/10 · 31 December 2022]

Can we please stop making all musical biopics the exact same movie? I'm so bored of the template. Instead of coming off as a celebration of Whitney Houston's life and career, I found "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" to be a hollow attempt at re-creating the success of "Bohemian Rhapsody". The strategy the filmmakers took on? Re-make "Bohemian Rhapsody" beat-for-beat with a Whitney Houston focus instead of Queen. This movie is painfully generic, it really disappointed me. And it's not even like the movie itself is bad, it is just that we've seen so many music biopics recently - and they all have the same story! Say what you will about "Elvis" but at least Baz Luhrmann tried to do something different with that one stylistically. Here, everything was bland, there was nothing to make this stand out from the crowd. The generic nature of this film would be fine if this was a better film, but unfortunately because this is so similar to other music biopics, it just comes off as repetitive and inferior in both performance and filmmaking.

Naomi Ackie is fine as Whitney, but she never really elevated the material off the page or made me believe she was Whitney. Instead I just saw her trying to be the next Rami Malek and Austin Butler, and personally I don't think she is quite on that level yet as an actor.

The movie also felt very shallow, it never went deep into exploring Whitney's life, instead just went from scene to scene checking off the boxes of major events in Whitney's life, carefully following the template of the music biopic. The script really was not anything special, and honestly I found it didn't work as a narrative at all. There was no conflict, no tension, nothing to keep me invested as an audience member. It is true to life, Whitney was indeed very talented and her talent was recognized from the start, but in a story you need your protagonist to go through some sort of struggle. I never felt Whitney ever hit any obstacles here, aside from minor relationship and substance-abuse struggles that it barely touched on. It literally just felt like the movie was going through the motions, complete with a finale that featured an iconic performance from Whitney.

I'm sorry, I know I am really ripping into this film, but I am just so disappointed that it did nothing to make itself stand out from the rest of music biopics. It felt like no one behind the camera was trying to make it special. Frankly, Whitney Houston deserves so much better.

I'm sure for most audience members, this will be enjoyable! It has an A cinemascope and a very high audience score on rotten tomatoes, so I am definitely in the minority. It is a very likeable movie, I just took major issues with how generic it was. I've seen this same movie countless times before, I'm just so bored with the format. The movie was good, just good, and I wanted it to be great. It should have been great. At least the music was...

Not entirely accurate, but Whitney would be proud

[annieg-31257 · 7/10 · 23 December 2022]

This is definitely a must watch for fans. Filled with nostalgia and emotions. I teared up throughout the movie. They used Whitney's voice for the singing scenes which got me So Emotional. Pun intended!

While it's obvious she doesn't look like Whitney, Naomi did an amazing job. She nailed Whitney's mannerisms and body language. The actor playing Clive Davis was spot on as well. What made the movie come to life were the styling, outfits, makeup, and hair. The music video sets were all spot on. All the staff who worked on them deserve awards.

I've seen the biopics, documentaries, and interviews. I've read the books written by Cissy, Bobby, Narada, and Robyn. Some of the information presented in the movie seemed inaccurate and were purposely left out (ex: no mention of Eddie Murphy). For instance, it's publicly known that it was Kevin Costner and not Clive who asked Whitney to sing "I Will Always Love You".

I was disappointed by the portrayals of John Houston and Robyn Crawford. The movie portrayed John as an aggressive father who only cares about making and spending money off of her daughter. There's some truth to this. But according to Robyn's book, John was gentle and genuinely cared about Whitney's well-being. The movie only painted John as the greedy one. But real fans know John wasn't the only one.

As for Robyn, the movie portrayed her as someone totally opposite of who she really is. Real fans know that Robyn is soft-spoken, calm, and someone who genuinely cared about Whitney.

I was not happy they portrayed Whitney aloof ignoring fans when fans asked her for an autograph/photograph. I'm not saying that hasn't happened before. But there have been countless times on camera showing that she was happy to meet fans.

There was no mention of Whitney's personal assistant and close confidant, Sylvia. At the very least they could've had an extra with no lines putting a towel over Whitney (which Sylvia did during the world tours).

There was little mention of things that really mattered to Whitney such as her faith, the community, and causes. I wish they focused on that more.

Don't expect the movie to reveal things that aren't already known to the public. The movie doesn't go deep into details.

Critics say there should've been more focus on her struggles and what's not known. I disagree because the world already knows too much. She did not like her personal life being all out there. Most of all, she wanted to be remembered for her music. The movie respected that by presenting what's already known (all the ups and the downs), and by raising her legacy and achievements which were once heavily overshadowed by her struggles.

A good biopic but lacking that extra something special

[ethanbresnett · 7/10 · 11 January 2023]

I Wanna Dance With Somebody is a bit hit and miss for me.

The big hit is Naomi Ackie's performance. I was completely transported and absorbed by her portrayal of Whitney, and thought she handled the role perfectly. Obviously the music was always going to be great so that's another real point in this film's favour.

The miss for me comes in the form of the structure and storytelling. There is always a balance to strike in a musical biopic between how much you focus on the music and how much you focus on the person. For me this film got this balance wrong and spent too long showing full performances of Whitney and showing off her voice. We know she had an incredible voice, and as great as it is to hear it over and over, I would have liked to dig down into the woman herself even more.

When we dig down into her personal life, her relationship with Bobby Brown, her relationship with her mother and father, her treatment by the press and her drug issues, everything felt very surface level. Particularly the latter two.

I appreciate that the film perhaps didn't want to tread too heavily down these dark avenues which is entirely reasonable, but it does mean the film lacks punch at times. As a result the highs are never particularly high and the lows are never too low which diminishes the impact of the film.

I did also think that the film was a tad too long and could have been trimmed by 10 minutes at least.

Considering there are so many musical biopics these days I can't help but compare this film to others that have hit the screens in recent years such as Elvis, Bohemian Rhapsody, Rocketman, and this is easily lagging behind in this pack. Still, it boasts a terrific performance from Ackie, a great soundtrack, and several powerful moments. However as a whole the film does feel rather muted.

Naomi Ackie delivers stirring portrayal of Whitney Houston

[tchelitchew · 29 December 2022]

Let's start with the most important fact: Naomi Ackie kills it as Whitney Houston in "I Wanna Dance with Somebody." When her casting was announced, some were put off by their lack of close physical resemblance. No matter: Ackie handily disappears into the role. She is particularly expert in capturing the cadence of Whitney's speech, conveying her fiercely independent personality in all its charisma and occasional prickliness.

This is a movie that puts Whitney's career front and center, with a special emphasis on her relationship with Arista records founder Clive Davis. Stanley Tucci makes for an impressively spot-on Davis, although perhaps his portrayal is a bit too reverent. The scene where he confronted her over her spiraling drug addiction was tough to watch. I appreciated the lack of cheap psychological gimmicks to explain away her troubles.

Whitney's important, long-lasting lesbian relationship with creative director Robyn Crawford is finally given its fair shake here. Crawford is a deeply fascinating figure in her own right, and their scenes together pop. Apparently, Crawford has written a book on her experiences and I'm very curious to check it out.

The musical highlight is the near superhuman medley of "I Loves You Porgy", "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" and "I Have Nothing" from the 1994 American Music Awards. Whitney's original voice is thankfully used for the singing parts, as if any other choice was possible for the greatest vocalist of the 20th century!

Music biopics do seem to bring out a special kind of snobbery and faux-cleverness from critics at times. Were you really not expecting to see Whitney singing in church or signing her first record deal? These are the facts of her life! They are told beautifully and compellingly here.

Terrible casting

[jeremym555 · 6/10 · 21 March 2023]

The movie was insightful as there were definitely a few elements of Whitney Houston that I didn't know about. I had no idea she was bisexual. Stanley Tucci was great just as he always is but that's pretty much where the good things to say end for me.

They picked the worst actress ever to portray the beautiful charismatic Whitney Houston. Whitney was one of the most beautiful women to ever live and this woman they chose to play her....well to keep it nice....she is no Whitney.

Too much of this movie was about her bisexual relationship (I'm assuming to cater to this new world where they want to shove this down our throat every chance they get). The highlight years of her career felt rushed. Those years are what made her a star and this movie treated that time like an aside.

Why does Hollywood think everyone wants a lecture on LGBQT+ in every single movie or show heck even commercials these days?

Wish more background was needed

[KatieDuncan44 · 6/10 · 2 January 2023]

I wish that the movie explored how she learned to sing more. I wish there was more of her background as a child with her parents. It looked like her parents were in show business, but I didn't find much about it.

I didn't realize Whitney was a lesbian or bisexual. And the way the men in her life betrayed her, she picked the wrong ones. She should have known from their previous betrayals with other people not to trust them.

I wish they showed how she gained strength to get rid of the betrayers in her life.

The movie felt like it dragged out and was long in some places. Even though, I felt it was devoid in some places. Like, I didn't get to know anybody in the movie. Not her friends, fans, or family.

I also didn't see the story of how she got into drugs, and how she became more dependent on them. There were betrayers in her life, but what else was making her upset. What was her pain and why did she do the drugs?

Also, Whitney has a certain vibe to her and this actress didn't capture it at all. Not her fault . Not saying she was a bad actress. It's just Whitney is Whitney.

Some people are too busy trying to be critics to simply feel it

[sharliep · 9/10 · 24 December 2022]

I loved this movie. I actually didn't know a bulk of things going on behind the scenes of her life, so it was very eye-opening to me and heartbreaking. You could see almost from the very beginning, unfortunately, how things and people in her life would build up until she was torn down.

For everyone that keeps quipping about the actress not looking like her - please stop and watch it again. This actress studied ALL of Whitney's body movements, facial expressions and actions. There were a few times in the movie that she came pretty damn close to looking just like her. And she was brilliant.

I hope all the Whitney fans and those who grew up with her music and life will see it. It's a very enjoyable movie.

The Voice

[Kingslaay · 7/10 · 14 January 2023]

Whitney Houston was truly the voice of her generation and one of the greatest voices of all time. I have been a fan of Whitney Houston my whole life. It is always hard to do a biopic and sum up someone's life in a single film. But the film does justice to Whitney's life and career. Naomi Ackie is the embodiment of Whitney and gives a great performance. No one could ever replicate Whitney's voice but Naomi certainly looks the part. She deserved an Oscar nod, it is shocking she did not get nominated.

The film did not shy away from the struggles Whitney faced in her life. Drugs were always in the picture, it is for a number of celebrities. But Whitney sadly got involved with very bad company. Bobby Brown spelt the downfall of this hugely talented songbird. If only she stayed away from that talentless waste of space she might have been alive and going strong. It is absolutely tragic to see the fate Whitney suffered. Like so many celebrities before her she became a prisoner of her own fame and indulged in substances that were too easy to obtain.

This film is underrated and deserves more credit. Overall a decent film and homage to this beautiful legend (Nippy) who has left us with timeless music that is in a league of its own.

A story too big for this Director

[fallyhag · 5/10 · 9 February 2023]

I was astonished at the simplicity and pure lack of creativity and imagination with this made for TV movie. It literally goes from A to B, copying and pasting all the way. Nothing unique to see here.

All good bio pics don't dare tell the whole story. It is just too difficult to make something great when you have so much to say. So they find the magic within. That micro story. And they make magic out of that. This film couldn't be bothered with that. So just painted by numbers, doing a very formulaic blah blah of nothingness.

Whitney was an amazing artist. One who deserved only the best. But all she got was a low rated TV Movie. A really tragic story.

That said, the actress did act. She was very good. I just wish they had done the right thing and given her someone who could have found her true magic with an intelligent story and more creative direction.

Entertaining and Tragic

[tm-sheehan · 8/10 · 29 December 2022]

My Review - I Wanna Dance with Somebody My Rating 8/10

If you haven't heard of Whitney Houston known as "The Voice" and I doubt anyone who listens to a radio hasn't please don't read further as my review this time contains a spoiler or two.

Whitney Houston still holds the Guinness Book of Records for the most awarded female recording artist of all time with over 400 awards to her name. In her relatively short career her first four albums, released between 1985 and 1992, amassed global sales in excess of 86 million copies.

Of course I knew a little of Whitney Houston's fame and early her tragic death at age 48 from a drowning accident due to a drug overdose but confess I wasn't a great fan of her genre of pop music however I thought she had a magnificent range of voice .

There are two scenes in I Wanna Dance With Somebody that for me whether intentional or not also reflect Whitney Houston's life .

It may sound odd to say that that Doris Day and Whitney had anything in common but the scene in the film where Whitney Houston is watching the classic 1955 Love Me or Leave Me the biopic movie of another famous recording artist of the 1930's and 1940's Ruth Etting who was bullied and mismanaged by her violent gangster manager.

That scene reminded me of Marty Melcher ,Doris Day's husband and manager who embezzled millions of dollars that she had earned throughout their marriage because of poor investments thar left her deeply in debt. The comparison to Whitney Houston is that her father and Manager John Houston played in the film by Clarke Peters did exactly the same thing to his daughter.

The difference between the two women ends there as Doris sued her late husbands business manager and won a huge multi million dollar settlement then retired and lived a long and happy life.

The second scene in this movie that I thought compared to Whitney was her wonderful rendition of the song Home from the Broadway musical The Wiz based on Judy Garlands 1939 classic The Wizard of Oz.

What did Whitney Huston and Judy Garland have in common ?

They were both idolised by their fans ,they both craved attention , they both became a commodity and were used and misused by studios as cash cows or geese that laid golden eggs and because of their addictions and insecurities both died early.

Judy Garland died at age 47 and Whitney Houston died at only 48 years old both from drug related symptoms both left children behind and both only had a shadow of their superb vocal range left.

That's all you really need to know about the plot of I Wanna Dance with Somebody it's a tragedy to see such a wonderful talent blessed with a talented family that included her mother Cissy Huston and cousins Dionne Warwick and opera singer Leontyne Price .

Whitney Huston destroyed herself with drugs and alcohol abuse aided by mismanagement and poor taste in her husband Bobby Brown .

If only she had stayed with her first lover Robyn Crawford who stayed loyal to the end . Nafessa Williams is excellent in her role as Robyn portraying one of the few loyal and trustworthy friends in Whitney's life.

Naomi Ackie is wonderful as Whitney and lip synchs perfectly the songs in the movie she really evokes the spirit and vulnerability of this famous entertainer.

It's an all to familiar story told before in the stories of Aretha Franklin, Billy Holliday ,Amy Winehouse,Janice Joplin and many other artists with addiction problems.

Stanley Tucci gives another great performance as Clive Davis the recording executive who signs up Whitney to a recording contract and introduces her to her greatest hits including Dolly Parton's composition and hit originally recorded by Dolly in 1973 I Will Always Love You which is estimated at earning $20 million becoming the best selling single by a female artist of all time.

Clive Davis if he's correctly portrayed always supported his star recording artist urging her to go to rehab and slow down her tour schedule while her father seemed to just use his daughter as a meal ticket causing her to amass huge debts which added to her stress.

I enjoyed this film it's not what I'd call great but it's very good and that due to the wonderful performances by Naomi Ackie and Stanley Tucci.

With an estimated USD 45,000,000 production budget it's not performing well early in its release at the movie Box Office but it deserves to its well worth seeing at a Cinema near you .

The story behind the music

[toasterinthebath · 7/10 · 7 January 2023]

Being a fan of Whitney Houston's music (particularly the 4 to the floor disco bangers) but knowing almost nothing about her personal life, this film was for me. I learned a lot, and the fact that it was a true story made it all the more tragic.

If only she'd stuck to her guns over wearing comfortable clothes, stuck to the weed instead of coke and stuck to her loving relationship with Robyn Crawford instead of her toxic relationship with Bobby Brown, she might still be making music today. Of course, her toxic religion convinced her that a lesbian relationship would mean that she would go to Hell after she died, and this lie ultimately lead to her downfall of leaving Robyn for Bobby, taking harder and massively more addictive drugs because she was unhappy, and overdosing as a result of these. So ultimately, *spoiler alert*, she was killed by a particularly homophobic reading of Christianity. Like I say, all the more tragic because it was true.

A shallow gallop through Whitney's life

[WinstonNoCGI · 2/10 · 24 December 2022]

This movie left me disappointed. It didn't catch my heart.

It's just a loose concatenation of tinges of episodes in her life that hardly brings any true emotional moment to life.

I Wanna Dance With Somebody lacks story-telling and continuity to the most.

There's not a single episode in the movie that's handled with longer than a minute or two. Many people suddenly appearing are not getting introduced. Many times you wonder: "Who is this new other person she's now talking to all of a sudden?" or "What has happened causing this scene? Did I miss something?"

Just a few examples (nothing to spoil about):

° Whitney signs her first contract. Cut. She listens to a number of tapes at her producers', selects one of the songs, convincingly claiming: "I'll add a hook to it". Cut. (And that's all. We don't get to see how she actually does "add a hook" to the song.) Next scene: We get to see a 1:1 copy of the music video.

So, we never see her working creatively in the studio. She never performs any musical effort in the movie.

° Whitney's producer is showing her the Bodyguard script. Cut. She sits in a beedroom scene, getting her hair done, walks to the window and breaks down. Cut. She's lying in a hospital, crying. Her husband's telling her that they will be giving birth to another child. Cut.

You wonder: Huh?!? They actually had been expecting a child? When did that happen?

° Whitney is sent to the rehab. Cut. We see her swimming with her daughter in a swimming pool, being remotely observed. Cut. End of story.

You wonder: So, that's how detox therapy actually works?? You just swim two lanes and that's it?

The only thing that is been depicted in full length are some of her live gigs. But when these are depicted, the camera is so close to her, it's almost in front of her nose.

Which brings me to the next bad part in the movie:

I understand it's hard to mimic a life performance that's been originally recorded in hi-res and been seen hundred times before. However, when the camera is so close to the singer's face, then - please - take better care of lip-syncing! - You should have done better! A cut takes usually 5 - 10 seconds. It shouldn't be too much of a demand to expect that Naomi Ackie practices the singing sequences again and again, until she fully got them. And only after that, they should have shot the scene again and again, until it fits! Plus, Naomi forgot to mimic Whitney's classic tongue vibrato. Naomi's tongue was stiff as a whale when we heard Whitney singing a vibrato.

Another thing:

While we've been listening to Whitney's original voice recordings, the instruments have been re-recorded to be rather dull and in the background. So many times you can see musicians who are playing an instrument that's actually not to hear in the mix.

So, as I stated in the beginning of my review, this wasn't a well-done movie. In contrast to Bohemian Rhapsody it didn't convey any emotion. It was just a loose, boring concatenation of scenes.

You will fall in love with her again.

[JohnDeSando · 30 December 2022]

"I will always love you."

No matter that the bio of Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody is riddled with pop-singer-tragic-bout with drugs, leading to her death because she remains the highest grossing singer of all time, not bad when you consider she keeps the fame fellowship with Barbra, Aretha, and Judy.

From Gospel to R & B, the Jersey-girl Whitney gradually becomes known as "The Voice." Therein lies a potential rub in the picture as the glamorous Naomi Ackie, an acceptable singer but apparently qualified to lip-synch only to Houston's transcendent voice. Knowing this before I entered the theater, I was won over within minutes: Ackie's lip-synching is flawless, the best I have ever seen. Houston's cool modulation and momentous key changes are here in reality.

I fretted not, for I accepted Ackie as Whitney, looks and voice, in a stunning interpretation of the pop princess turned queen. In a veritable flash of a moment after being discovered at Sweetwater's, she is shepherded by the estimable Arista Records president Clive Davis (Stanley Tucci in his most urbane role ever) through her career, respectful as he was about what she liked to sing, and uncanny in offering her songs that catapulted her to fame.

When Davis introduces her on The Merv Griffin Show, she stops hearts with "Home" from The Wiz and allows director Kasi Lemmons to set up the operative heart-breaking motif of her longing for a home life that Bobby Brown (Ashton Sanders-remember him from Moonlight?) will never give her.

Whitney's character arc is well known from "America's Sweetheart" (an appellation she hated) to drug-addled has-been, not unlike Winehouse and Spears. (Her unconventional love with Robyn Crawford (Nafessa Williams) brought her misery as well). Because so many singers, male and female, fell under the sway of narcotics, it's possible this biopic has been undersubscribed because of the almost cliched story line.

In addition, Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody downplays the abusive role Bobby Brown, probably because of his attorneys threatening lawsuits. Although I am uncomfortable with graphic violence on the screen, some of it would have given an authentic edge to her troubled story. As would have scenes depicting her actual encounter with drugs.

This Whitney biopic may soften the effects of her addictions, but it never fails in featuring and interpreting the music that brought wealth and fame. Kudos to Naomi. Not so to the drug overdose that led to her drowning.

Take heart, this story lingers frequently on full songs in her real voice. It can't get better than that.

Well Done Performance By Naomi Ackie

[ericgoldberg-50159 · 7/10 · 30 December 2022]

Naomi Ackie doesn't actually sing in this movie but she has all of Whitney Houston's mannerisms and style down pat. She performs with gusto and does a job well done. This movie starts off a bit slow but picks up speed as Whitney gets older in the movie. I didn't know Whitney was bisexual and her relationship with Robyn Crawford gets confusing considering Whitney is married to Bobby Brown.

I'm glad the makers of the movie didn't have Naomi Ackie sing the songs because no one has a voice like Whitney's. She was one of the greatest performers of all time and her voice will never be forgotten. She had her moment in time and made it shine.

Great Music, But A Little Bland

[writetonight-1 · 7/10 · 1 January 2023]

I was a Whitney fan, although not a fanatical one. I heard all my favorite songs in this film, which is why I went to see it, but some were incomplete, so I wish this would have been done like a Broadway musical, with the songs sung completely from start to finish, with choreography and dancing. It's called "I Want To Dance With Somebody," and Whitney had lots of songs that I remember dancing to. I wish the film would have recreated the party atmosphere Whitney Houston created for her fans. The ballads were mostly done well; some nearly brought me to tears. But "Saving All My Love For You" was not sung in its entirety, which was disappointing. My personal favorite, "The Greatest Love of All, " was sung early in this film as an audition piece for Whitney before she was famous, so this powerful song completely lacked context. I wish it would have been performed when Whitney was trying to beat her drug addiction, when she was a mother, a wife in a volatile marriage, and when she was facing a declining career, bad press, and family who spent huge chunks of her hard earned money. That would have given contextual power to the lyric, "No matter what they take from me, they can't take away my dignity." Her death was not dramatized, and was dealt with in a vague way. That was a let down, I wanted more detail about what happened to her.

This film was written by the writer of "Bohemian Rhapsody," and they tried to structure it the same way as "Bohemian Rhapsody," ending with a most memorable performance. I never saw the award show that served as the climax of this film, so it was missing the nostalgia factor for me, and the songs she sang at that performance were not my favorites, so the climax was a let down for me, but it may be on point for other Whitney fans. I felt it didn't "capture the magic" as well as the Live Aid scenes in "Bohemian Rhapsody." I never saw "Live Aid," but I left the theater telling my husband that I wanted to see "Bohemian Rhapsody" again, because that final concert scene was so phenomenal. As amazing as Whitney's voice was, this film did not leave me wanting to see it again.

It seems like the topic of race has to be inserted into every film now, and that is annoying. The 1980's and 1990's were great because people weren't obsessed with race like they are now, and music united us all. It was mentioned several times in this movie that Whitney was the first "white-friendly" black performer. This was kind of insulting to whites, and it was also just weird, considering that the movie acknowledges that Michael and Janet Jackson were stars at the same time as Whitney. Michael Jackson had tons of white fans long before Whitney came on the scene. What about Donna Summer and Diana Ross? Lena Horne had the hit "Stormy Weather" which she performed in a musical in 1942, fifty years before Whitney Houston acted in "The Bodyguard" and made "I Will Always Love You" a hit.

I loved the actress who played Whitney, she was very charming and conveyed the power Whitney put into her music.

Fell Short of A True Biopic

[nicholaskvn · 7/10 · 26 December 2022]

For those who actually want to see the well-researched and true to facts biopic of Whitney, go and see Can I Be Me.

Knowing that Clive Davis and Pat Houston (Whitney's sister in law) served as producers, I set my expectation way low for this. It's just so convenient that amongst the other characters around Whitney's circle, these two are being portrayed generously in good graces, beside Cissy Houston, her mother who also would be in charge of her estate. The thing is, it's in contrast with what is being revealed in the aforementioned documentary, especially Cissy who has been attributed as one of few who actually allowed Whitney's heavy drug use to reach it's limit.

Despite those glaring inaccuracies, it took some risks I did not expect. Depicting her same-sex relationship with Robyn was the biggest thing I credited to them, although it might be too big of a deception not to let it be the main story arch, given the much publicized facts that have come to light after Whitney's passing.

Ackie's portrayal is quite convincing, nailing the voice tone and gesture. She is only being let down by the script, not wanting to let her portray the raw, vulnerable points of Whitney. One scene when she weeps in front of the mirror as "life flashed before her eyes" moment was powerful but it was cut short before being a true tear-jerker moment.

They also seem not to have the budget to nail the age progression of her and the rest of the major characters, considering the plot covers three decades timespan.

Despite its flaws, the redeeming qualities of the film is owed to the music. The track selections are smart, and inclusion of many of her live vocals are the highlight. I dare to say the chance to listen to her 1994 medley of "I Loves You, Porgy/And I'm Telling You/I Have Nothing" in theatre is worth the admission price alone.

Reasonable film

[jonsid57 · 6/10 · 26 December 2022]

This film was ok. It was a bit long. Naomi Ackie plays Whitney Houston and does a great job . She has a lesbian relationship with Robyn Crawford before moving onto Bobbie Brown. It is a rocky marriage with Bobby doing drugs and cheating on her. Whitney later files for divorce .

The highlight of the film is the music especially the scene where Naomi sings Greatest love of All. The film touches briefly on family problems and her drug abuse .

The standout performance of the film is by the ever reliable Stanley Tucci who plays Clive Davis a record producer who signs her . He later tells her she needs to go to rehab Of course we all know what happens in the end to Whitney . A real waste .

A MUST WATCH

[karansolves · 10/10 · 21 December 2022]

As an Avid fan of Whitney Houston I waited for this project for 2 years and boy they did not disappoint.

As usual, like most others I was skeptical about how they were going to pull off such popular moments which we've already seen a million times on YouTube and television, but they did this so seamlessly that it really does transform into quite a cinematic experience.

And Naomi Ackie - what can I say about her? Despite all our initial skepticism, for her not looking exactly like a replica of Houston, she has managed to embody the late legend so well, that in certain music scenes it seems as if they're used the actual footage.

You forget you're watching someone act it out. Naomi is THAT good.

I would definitely rank this film much higher than the Elvis biopic that came out this year.

Missing important people and details

[icecreamth · 7/10 · 28 December 2022]

This movie was good, entertaining, made me cry at the end. However the movie was missing Nick Gordon who was a huge part of Whitney's life aka her adopted son and her last boyfriend r&b singer Ray J who was with her in the final days in February 2012 in Hollywood. I would love to see more details in this movie more so then her being a lesbian. Which Whitney never came out the closet so we don't know this to be true or not. It's only he said she said rumors. I feel Whitney would be disappointed in this film on so many levels. The actress who played her did a good job but didn't really look much like her.

A missed shot

[andrasrapli · 4/10 · 10 January 2023]

If Whitney was in fact this big voice, "The Voice", then she really does not deserve this shallow and boring representation of her life. I bet there are details, which could've been expressed way more movie-like fashion. Seriously, family fights, alcohol, drug abuse, and the movie became this flat? A high school storyteller could've done better. Cmon. There are already good movies on Lady Gaga and Queen, feels like they got on the money train and wanted to put this out, grab some cash and fade away. A tell you what, this will definitely fade away in the movie history. A very long YouTube music video I would quit in the middle.

I wish I went to one of her concerts

[Southamptonfan · 10/10 · 15 February 2023]

Great film. Enjoyed every minute of it. Shows us the life of a legend, perfectly. Whitney lived a fascinating life and was one the most talented singers, ever to grace our world. This is a brilliant film, full of emotion and she lived an interesting life. The film tells us all about her life from the beginning of her career to the end of her career. We found out about all her love interests and all of the heartbreak. Arguably the biggest love her life, was a woman. Such a tragedy that she turned to drugs and destroyer herself. Watching this makes me wish I had gone to one of her concerts. Watch this film, it's brilliant.

Didn't We Almost Have It All?

[Mers_Mers_Mers · 6/10 · 6 January 2023]

It's a nice movie but it could definitely be better.

Hearing her sing in a movie theater is just plain bizarre. Lots of live vocals in the movie. Just bizarre what Whitney could do on stage. At times, I really stared open-mouthed and I also teared up because her voice is just incredible.

But the film itself is quite superficial in terms of story and the timeline keeps getting mixed up. Some things are wrong, a lot of her story isn't told. The film hops from event to event without really telling much. The historical greatness of some moments is also not really portrayed. And they skipped quite a lot of songs. Personality wise we don't get to see much of Whitney. She's mostly snappy because of Bobby Brown and other people around her, like her father, that only use her. We didn't get to see her other sides. So many people that knew her talked about how much fun she was, how caring, how generous. They also didn't touch anything about all the things she did for children.

The whole story about her as an artist and her musicality didn't go beyond her voice. Of course the best voice ever (unparalleled live vocals as far as I'm concerned) but there was more. How she produced her music. Her sublime stage presence. Being a (fashion) icon. The fact that she broke barriers for dark artists. The influence she has on music in general. The soul and gospel she brought to pop music. Her impact was huge, they didn't really show that.

Naomi does a great job. She got the mannerisms and sometimes when they shot from behind it was as if you saw Whitney. She also managed to speak like Whitney very well. But I didn't think they captured Whitney's stage precence. I'm not sure if that was Naomi's fault. I'd rather say it's something left out in the movie.

Stanley Tucci does a great job as Clive Davis and I don't know why we don't talk about her more, but Tamara Tunie really impressed me as Cissy Houston.

I did like the fact they showed the relationship with Whitney and Robyn Crawford had. We knew it but her estate didn't really want to confirm it.

Another highlight was at the beginning when Cissy noticed Clive Davis was in the audience where she and Whitney would be performing. Cissy faked a soar throat and told Whitney to sing the first solo. This scene, acted wonderfully by Tamara Tunie, just touched me so much. The scene then moves on to Greatest Love Of All. Wonderful and very emotional.

Long story short: A fun movie to watch but it falls short to be a great biopic.

Truly a Lifetime movie

[bobby-ducharme · 3/10 · 19 May 2023]

The movie is 100% a Lifetime movie. Nothing else. Wigs are cheap. Costume are boring. Wikipedia page come to life. Actually, even Wikipedia has more details on the actual events. The movie is a multitude of 3 minutes scenes.

There's a huge focus on her relation with Robyn which didn't need to be there. It feels like we are giving intentions to a relationship that never were actually confirmed or talked about by Whitney.

Bobbie's character is one note. A caricature of the man. His costumes are the worst.

Too long. Nothing sticks. Never interested enough to be captivated and into the flow.

Whitney deserved a way better movie.