Directed by Kasi Lemmons
Where & When: AMC The Americana at Brand 18, Glendale, CA. January 1, 2023 12:00 PM
The bio-drama, "Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody", is the latest work that explores the story of one of the greatest voices in pop music history. But after two thoroughly researched documentaries and a television movie (directed by Houston's "Waiting to Exhale" co-star, Angela Bassett) in recent years, what more could we possibly learn about this strikingly beautiful singer from Newark, NJ whose life came to a tragic end in 2012 by a drug-induced, accidental drowning in a bathtub after seemingly overcoming years of substance abuse and trying to put her life and career back in order?
What makes this film slightly different is that Houston's estate and Clive Davis, the record executive who helped launch the singer's professional career, are both behind this production. This leads to "I Wanna Dance" offering small, intimate details about the singer that only a family could share and the private conversations and career advice that only Davis could recount. Yet Anthony McCarten, the writer behind several biopics including the Oscar-winning, "Bohemian Rhapsody" which examined Freddie Mercury and the rock band, Queen, has taken this information and crafted a screenplay that only provides a perfunctory narrative with thin characterizations and heavy-handed dialogue. However "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" does manage to break through with moments that thoroughly entertain, particularly when we see Houston in performance, reminding us of her extraordinary and accomplished gifts as a vocalist.
We first see a teenage Whitney Elizabeth Houston (played by Naomi Ackie throughout the film) singing a solo in the youth church choir with her mother, Cissy (Tamara Tunie) serving as music director, who looks on disapprovingly as her daughter shows off during a rehearsal. After many years in the music business, first with her family in the gospel singing group, the Drinkard Singers before forming the r&b act, Sweet Inspirations, who performed background vocals for nearly every popular artist in the 60's and '70's, and attempted a solo career that never took off, the elder Houston knows something about singing. She instructs Whitney to learn the melody of the song first and then she can later add her own vocal embellishments but her daughter dismisses the advice, already confident in her abilities to transform a song.
And her mother is well aware of her daughter's remarkable talent. Cissy still performs occasionally at a small New York nightclub with Whitney serving as a backup singer. When Clive Davis (Stanley Tucci) attends one of her performances, Cissy feigns that she has lost her voice, pushing her daughter out to open the show. Her rendition of "The Greatest Love of All" impresses the record executive and in quick order, signs Houston to a recording contract, arranges her first major live performance on "The Merv Griffin Show" (singing "Home" from the stage musical, "The Wiz") and works with her in song selection for her debut album.
The director Kasi Lemmons, who was behind one of my all-time favorite films, "Eve's Bayou", a thrilling, coming-of-age drama set in rural Louisiana, has the challenge of finding a fresh approach in telling Houston's story. The filmmaker is not entirely successful, never moving far beyond the streamlining of historical events and characters to push the plot along that has become standard in current biopics. But Lemmons is wise enough to know that what people really want is to hear Whitney sing and that's where this movie truly captivates, focusing on entire moments in Houston's musical highlights; her incredible version of "The Star-Spangled Banner" at Super Bowl XXV and the singer's breathtaking performance at the 1994 American Music Awards where she did a medley that featured "I Loves You, Porgy" from the opera, "Porgy and Bess", "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going", the showstopper from the musical, "Dreamgirls" and "I Have Nothing" from the soundtrack of Houston's movie acting debut, "The Bodyguard".
Another advantage for "I Wanna Dance" is being able to use Houston's actual singing voice in the film, utilizing recordings and live performances that help elevate Ackie's turn as the singer. This is the first major lead role for the British actress (who had made appearances in several television series including "Master of None") and while she certainly doesn't resemble Houston, Ackie believably captures her luminous spirit and the complete joy she had when singing on stage. And she does an impressive job at lip-syncing to Houston's stunning vocals.
One of the major surprises is how "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" addresses quite frankly several of the rumors that surrounded Houston throughout her career. The most notable being the singer's relationship with her personal assistant, Robyn Crawford (played in the film by Nafessa Williams) and after years of denials from Houston, the film confirms that the two were actually intimate with their romance forced to end due to the pressure from several sources to protect the singer's rising career. And Bobby Brown (Ashton Sanders) is officially taken off the hook for claims of starting his wife's destructive path into drugs with the acknowledgment that Houston had begun taking illicit substances long before their marriage (although he did certainly help accelerate the problem).
Despite some commanding performances and dazzling recreations of highlights from Houston's storied oeuvre, "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" fails to live up to the greatness of this legendary artist, leaving us with a watchable film that just feels generic and negligible.
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