Blu-ray Review Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody Blu-ray Review (1 Viewer)

[Todd Erwin]

Sony’s biopic Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody arrives on Blu-ray, but the film spends too much time recreating her more famous musical performances than delving into her life in any detail.



Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody (2022)



Released: 23 Dec 2022
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 144 min




Director: Kasi Lemmons
Genre: Biography, Drama, Music



Cast: Naomi Ackie, Stanley Tucci, Ashton Sanders
Writer(s): Anthony McCarten



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



IMDB rating: 6.7
MetaScore: 51





Disc Information



Studio: Sony...

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[John Dirk]

Thanks for the review, Todd, but the statement regarding her relationship with Bobby Brown leading to her addiction and downfall is simply not true. Whitney's drug use was well documented by those in her circle before she ever met Brown.

I also would have preferred a more accurate documentary film.

 

[Malcolm R]

She must have been using from the start, then, as she hit it big in 1985, met Brown in 1989, and married him in 1992. I don't recall any big issues or rumors in the press until the later 90's.

I've always considered her relationship with, and influence of, Brown as the beginning of the end.

 

[John Dirk]

I've always considered her relationship with, and influence of, Brown as the beginning of the end.

That may very well be true. When you take one person who's already at a certain level and add another who is at the same or higher level, things are probably not going to turn out well. I don't mean to disrespect Houston's legacy in any way but her state of being at the time may have had a lot to do with why she chose Brown when she could have had practically anyone she wanted.

 

[Lee Sandersen]

She had great talent, but the pampering and the yes men all around a person in her position sometimes turns deadly. Look what happened to Elvis, and so many other artists with similar end stories. She would have been better off going to college, getting an education and some life maturity before becoming a singer.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Thanks for the review, Todd, but the statement regarding her relationship with Bobby Brown leading to her addiction and downfall is simply not true. Whitney's drug use was well documented by those in her circle before she ever met Brown.

I also would have preferred a more accurate documentary film.

The movie even semi-acknowledges that WH did drugs pre-BB. When she last sees him, she makes a comment in that regard.

Though the movie still treats BB like the villain.

I would've preferred a less superficial biopic. Like many, it rushes through WH's life way too quickly.

 

[John Dirk]

She would have been better off going to college, getting an education and some life maturity before becoming a singer.

That's likely true in most cases with great artists but happens in practically none. Ironically, sports is the one field I can think of where there's a defined path for gifted youth to receive an education before being thrown to the wolves and even that is quickly eroding.

 

[Lee Sandersen]

That's likely true in most cases with great artists but happens in practically none. Ironically, sports is the one field I can think of where there's a defined path for gifted youth to receive an education before being thrown to the wolves and even that is quickly eroding.

Yes, I agree. Football maybe, but recently young men are leaving school early with dollar signs in their eyes. My opinion, not fact based mind you, is that few college players who go pro really never got a real college education. How could they? Flying all around, ridiculous training hours. When is there time for a proper course load and to study? I have seen many of these men interviewed. With rare exception, do many of them seem even able to put together a coherent sentence? My college roomate 40+ years ago was on a full golf scholarship ride. He never went to class, never talked about any class. I never saw him open a book of any kind in our dorm room. He told me he was a Phy Ed major, and then would smile and say no more.

Basketball pro players, more often than not, get recruited right out of high school. Give an 18 year old kid, often from a poor inner city school, multimillion dollar contracts and see where that gets them. Baseball recruits from the minor leagues and high schools. Academia is not real high on the list.

My point is, give a person with limited life experience, sudden wealth and fame, plus a whole bunch of people surrounding them that will give them anything they want to secure their own means, it is a recipe for disaster. If some of these people had to struggle professionally for a while, maybe be required to finish some type of schooling, that would add some years for maturity and reason to set in. Those later things do not come automatically, there is many a soul that even with advanced age have yet to achieve them. To assume that a person of tender age given an unnatural amount of anything is going to achieve self actualization is expecting a lot.

 

[DarkVader]

I hated every frame of this film. It was so disingenuous. It did her legacy absolutely no favors whatsoever. I prefer a well-thought-out and respectful documentary to these half-baked biographical films with no roots in reality. File this one under "Alternative Reality"

 

[Radioman970]

I've been watching through SNL from the beginning for years now. About a month back I watched her first appearance on the Alec Baldwin Feb 1991 show. When she did All the Man I'll Ever need she was absolutely sensational. Her whole band was incredible and basically recreated what they did on the album. When it was over I just couldn't kick my wonder of how the hell she went from that to dead in a bathtub. I was hoping the film would answer that.

Here is that performance. Not the best quality though. Still it shows she was once an incredible performer.