YNOT at the Movies

Hailed as the greatest voice of her generation, Whitney Houston is one of the most celebrated singers of all time. On the ten-year anniversary of her accidental drug related death, the director Kasi Lemmons's captivating biopic "Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody" (USA 2022 | 146 min.) showcases her exhilarating voice one more time, with an immaculate performance from the British actress Naomi Ackie. Regardless of how much you know about Whitney Houston's performances, you will be dazzled by her energetic and soaring voice in the film, and feel poignant for such an extraordinary talent's premature death.

Whitney Houston (Naomi Ackie) has been singing since she was a teenager. She performs at her church in New Jersey under the supervision of her mother Cissy Houston (Tamara Tunie), who is an accomplished gospel singer herself. When the legendary record producer Clive Davis (Stanley Tucci) comes to the club where Cissy performs, she seizes the opportunity and lets Whitney sing her heart out on stage. The plan works. Clive signs Whitney up and they begin to make records together. Whitney becomes a star when her songs begin to top the charts weeks after weeks.

Her fame and fortune change her life, her family, and her relationship with her girlfriend Robyn Crawford (Nafessa Williams). Under the pressure of the homophobic atmosphere and her religious teaching, Whitney ends the romantic relationship with Robyn and gets married to a playboy, Bobby Brown (Ashton Sanders). Although Whitney and Bobby have a daughter together, their rocky relationship, as well as her drug abuse, become the frequent headlines in tabloid magazines. Her career and her finances run into chaos.

Even though on day one, Clive makes it clear that he would not get involved with artists' personal lives, he tries to help Whitney and get her into rehab. But the hope of her comeback evaporates upon her tragic death, which is deliberately omitted from the film's story.

It's obvious that the director Kasi Lemmons wants to make a film to pay glorious tribute to this most awarded vocal artist. This film is aiming to please Whitney's followers. The film's portrait of Whitney is almost always glamorous and it captures the excitement of her singing. In case the fans don't get the clue that the film's title is one of Whitney's songs, Whitney Houston's name is added to the film's title at the last minute.

Of course, the real gem of the film is the voice of Whitney. With the remix of Whitney's original recordings, 22 of her songs are impressively jammed into the film, with the impeccable and mesmerizing lip-sync performance by Naomi Ackie. The film reenacts a few of Whitney's key live performances, including singing the National Anthem at the 1991 Super Bowl and performing the Impossible Medley at the 1994 American Music Awards. Naomi Ackie is absolutely convincing, and better than any drag queens you have ever seen, who frequently use Whitney's songs in their performances.

It's understandable that the film's focus is on Whitney and her performances. It's no surprise that the film gives little attention to the character's development. We still don't know what made Whitney do certain things after the film. Everything seems to be spontaneous, and the scenes jump from one to the next, seemingly just for the purpose of starting a new song. Other characters, especially Whitney's family members, fill in the scenes like props. Luckily, as soon as her next song starts, her voice stops any thoughts you might have, because that is the power of the greatest voice of her generation, indeed.

"Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody" opens on Friday, December 23, 2022.