Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody (2022)

[Wayne_j]

Title: Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody (2022)

Tagline: Celebrate the untold story of an icon.

Genre: Drama, History, Music

Director: Kasi Lemmons

Cast: Naomi Ackie, Ashton Sanders, Stanley Tucci, Nafessa Williams, Lance A. Williams, Tamara Tunie, Clarke Peters, Daniel Washington, JaQuan Malik Jones, Kris Sidberry, Tanner Beard, Bailee Lopes, Jennifer Ellis, Bria Danielle Singleton, Adrian M. Mompoint, Coffey, Stew Replogle, Chanel Rose Connor, Sean Amos, Jon F. Merz

Release: 2022-12-20

Runtime: 144

Plot: The joyous, emotional, heartbreaking celebration of the life and music of Whitney Houston, the greatest female R&B pop vocalist of all time. Tracking her journey from obscurity to musical superstardom.

 

[Wayne_j]

I'm surprised nobody posted a thread on this movie yet. I plan to see this with my sister this week. There is a massive disparity between critics and audience.

On RT critics are at 46% and verified audience is at 90%.

 

[EricSchulz]

I know some of the creative team worked on Bohemian Rhapsody which I think did the same thing. I found that movie interesting and fun, but factually I knew it wasn't accurate. I have a feeling this on is no different. The trailer looks good but I think we'll get a thin biography that skips over or minimizes the negative parts of her life and career.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Will see this eventually but in no hurry.

Musician biopics these days usually are pretty lousy.

 

[benbess]

Although I didn't like this movie quite as much as Variety's reviewer, I still liked it a lot.

‘Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody’ Review: A Lavish, All-Stops-Out Biopic That Channels Her Glory and Gets Her Story Right

“I Wanna Dance with Somebody” is the kind of lavish all-stops-out biopic you either give into or you don’t — and if you do, you may find yourself getting so emotional, baby.

variety.com

"....As Houston, the British actor Naomi Ackie is far from the singer’s physical double, yet she nails the hard part: channeling her incandescence. She shows you the freedom that made Houston tick and the self-doubt that ate away at her, until she fell from the mountaintop she’d scaled. Ackie is also a veritable artist of lip-syncing, bringing to life the drama of Houston’s songs, and doing it with a mischievous sparkle that was the essence of Whitney (and make no mistake: the decision to use Houston’s real voice throughout was the right one). The director, Kasi Lemmons (“Harriet”), working from a screenplay by Anthony McCarten (“Bohemian Rhapsody”), creates a portrait of Houston’s glories and demons that’s bracingly authentic, from her roots in the gospel church, where she can’t resist adding curlicues to the melodies, to the drugs she starts doing casually with her brothers in their middle-class community of East Orange, NJ, to her quick rise to fame to her love affair with Robyn Crawford (Nafessa Williams), a relationship that Houston feels no compulsion to hide until she becomes a star.

She’s discovered by the legendary Clive Davis (Stanley Tucci, nailing the Arista mogul’s bone-dry dictator-mensch savoir faire) at Sweetwater’s, a New York nightclub where her protective and domineering mother, Cissy Houston (Tamara Tunie), is the headliner. Whitney, still coltishly unseasoned, steps out on stage and sings “The Greatest Love of All,” and it’s the first of many performance scenes that will give you chills. Here, and in Whitney’s debut appearance two weeks later on “The Merv Griffin Show,” and in the extravagant way that she takes command in her videos and concert appearances, “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” channels the soaring gospel-meets-pop-meets-her-own-joyful-thing majesty that made Houston, arguably, the greatest female popular singer after the holy triumvirate of Aretha, Barbra, and Judy. What you hear in Houston’s voice is indescribably infectious, but it’s really the sound of faith...."

 

[Wayne_j]

I saw this tonight and I think I located the disconnect between the critics and the audience. The movie isn't particularly well made, but the recordings played of Whitney's performances are so good that you can't help but smile at the movie. Although Whitney's voice declined towards the end of her life, the last thing the audience hears before the end credits is one of her greatest performances that happened 18 years before she died.

My sister and I had a good time despite the problems the films had as a film.

 

[JimmyO]

Will see this eventually but in no hurry.

Musician biopics these days usually are pretty lousy.

I don't think a film like this is designed to be anything but a love-in for fans. I think the title of the film is pretty lousy, myself. But that doesn't matter very much.

 

[Mikael Soderholm]

Well, you had me at 'Stanley Tucci, nailing the Arista mogul’s bone-dry dictator-mensch savoir faire', although I was interested even before knowing that.
The Netflix docu on Clive was mesmerising, especially how he managed Whitney. And Stanley Tucci is always brilliant.
Need to check this out soonest.