WHITNEY HOUSTON: I WANNA DANCE WITH SOMEBODY – Review

With a little over a week left in 2022, it looks like the cinematic musical “biopic” of the year will be ELVIS, so who’s next…oh, wait, we’ve got another one sneaking in just under the wire. And it turns out that this singer (according to many music charts and lists) had more hits than the King or the “Fab Four”. And all after “E” had “left the building”, er…planet. Aside from success, she certainly had enough drama in her short life for a feature film (actually she was the focus of a cable TV flick and a supporting player in three others). So after the gifts are unwrapped you may want to head to the multiplex for an eye and ear-full of WHITNEY HOUSTON: I WANNA DANCE WITH SOMEBODY.

Naturally, the story begins on the concert stage, as the musicians and backup singers await the “main attraction”. Ah, but then we’re taken back almost thirty years to a Newark church where the congregation is wowed by the singing teen dynamo, Whitney Houston (Naomi Acki). Everyone’s stunned, except her mom, professional songbird Cissy (Tamara Tunie). After the church empties she tries to get her daughter to learn the music before doing all the “flourishes”. Oh, but little “Nippy” (the family nickname) has her own inner tutor. It seems that performing is a release from the heated arguments between mom and daddy John (Clarke Peters) at home. Another distraction is her friendship with college basketball star Robyn Armstrong (Nafessa Williams), which develops into a secret romance. Word of the young singer gets out, and when Arista Records mogul Clive Davis (Stanley Tucci) drops by the club where Cissy performs, she feigns laryngitis, so that Whitney (who was her backup singer) takes the stage and “blows the roof off the joint” with “The Greatest Love”. He signs her to his label, with John acting as her manager, who squelches the romance between Nippy and Robyn (“You will be seen dating boys!”), though Robyn stays on as an “assistant”. The hits keep coming, along with awards, sold-out concerts, and some controversy over whether she’s not “black enough”. As fame takes its toil, the booze and drugs enter into Whitney’s life, as does R&B “bad boy” singer Bobby Brown (Ashton Sanders). Financial problems coming from John’s indulgencies also take their toll on Whitney coupled with Bobby’s infidelities put the “pop princess” on a dark path, yet somehow “the voice of her generation” struggles to survive.

Although she bears little resemblance to the title role, Acki does a terrific job of capturing the spirit of the superstar. Her bright beaming smile conveys the joy of performance, along with the giddy delight in going for “the brass ring”. But Ackie goes beyond the gold records to show us Whitney’s “rough edges”. She’s prickly and confrontational as a reporter harps on the “blackness” question which is reflected later as friends try to curb her new appetites, while she insists that her addiction is under control and needs the boost to get through her hectic days. And Ackie not only can “lipsync” superbly but her gestures and movement really “sell” her transformation. The warm rapport with Tucci as the mellow Yiddish “fairy godfather” Davis really works, giving us a look into the nurturing mentor/student friendship that goes beyond show biz. Plus Tucci is very funny, with his casual asides and observations which makes his pleas to her to “get clean” even more heartbreaking. Sanders is all sinister swagger as the aloof, controlling Bobby. Williams is powerful as the ex-lover pushed aside for fame, yet still watching from the sidelines. Peters is brittle and domineering as the tight-fisted papa John, while Tunie is also tough, but still tender as the concerned coach who will step aside to let her talented offspring shine for the world to see, and hear.

Director Kasi Lemmons delivers a more honest look at Houston’s turbulent life than the adoring marketing campaign is selling to moviegoers. The tabloid “gay” stories from Whitney’s early days are addressed early in the first act, with a look into the rumored affair with Armstrong that may surprise and shock some fans, though it is tastefully handled. Yes, there are too many scenes of people, from Clive to a hotel bartender, lavishing praise on Whitney, but the film’s not a gushing “fan letter”. There are just as many sequences of her making questionable choices, from putting dad in charge, pursuing Bobby, and retreating into denial over her health. So, it’s the often repeated show-biz bio of a sweet talent becoming hardened as she goes from “rags to riches” then back to rags (this is brought home as Whitney preps for her first film role by watching LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME). And Lemmons finds a clever way to use real folks by only showing them in monitors, from Merv Griffin to Kevin Costner to Oprah *with lookalikes whose faces are blocked in long shots). Also, she ends the film with Whitney’s last big stage triumph, much as was done with ELVIS, BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY, and further back to THE BUDDY HOLLY STORY. Still, it seems to shortchange the “rough times” and doesn’t go into Whitney’s mindset, opting for several quick montages of magazine covers and tabloid headlines. But these will be a minor quibble for her still growing legion of followers that will gladly dive into the nostalgic tributr that is WHITNEY HOUSTON: I WANNA DANCE WITH SOMEBODY.

2.5 Out of 4

WHITNEY HOUSTON: I WANNA DANCE WITH SOMEBODY is now playing in theatres everywhere