PLOT: The life of Whitney Houston (Naomi Ackie), from her early days as an up-and-comer to her eventual run as a superstar and drug-fuelled decline.
REVIEW: I Wanna Dance with Somebody is a mixed bag as far as music biopics go. While it follows the familiar beats and doesn’t shy away from the darker side of Houston’s life and career, the film is perhaps too devoted to Houston’s music to work as a compelling drama. Of the 144-minute running time, conservatively, forty (or more) minutes are devoted to lengthy restagings of Houston’s live performances. Given that Houston’s real vocals were used, that means star Noami Ackie is given little to do but mime to these performances. While Houston’s once-in-a-generation voice obviously can’t be imitated, it leaves Ackie too little time to inhabit the part effectively.
Ackie’s performance suffers partly because Houston is such a familiar figure that we all know precisely what she looks and sounds like. Ackie, while an excellent performer, is far from a dead ringer as far as Houston’s looks and manner go. All this makes the film pale alongside Kevin McDonald’s seminal documentary, Whitney. It also feels like the movie may have fallen prey to some hasty re-editing, with essential roles, such as Nafessa Williams as Whitney’s BFF (and sometime lover) Robyn Crawford vanishing from the final act, and an important subplot involving Houston’s father, John (Clarke Peters) glossed over. It wouldn’t surprise me to discover there’s a three-hour cut of this movie out there somewhere.
As uneven as it is, I Wanna Dance with Somebody is still entertaining. How could it not be with the fantastic soundtrack of Houston hits, including the unforgettable title track, plus “I Will Always Love You” and so many more? All of the crucial moments in Houston’s career are presented. However, the segment on The Bodyguard is unintentionally funny as they keep re-using the same two-second clip of Kevin Costner over and over (was that all WB willing to give them?). Notably, director Kasi Lemmons and writer Anthony McCarten (who also wrote Bohemian Rhapsody) don’t shy away from more controversial aspects, such as Houston’s anguish over being dubbed “not black enough” at the height of her popularity, even being booed at the Soul Train Music Awards in the eighties.
The movie also acknowledges her relationship with best friend Robyn Crawford, with Houston depicted as bisexual. Nafessa Williams’ Robyn is shown to be a true blue friend, while Ashton Sanders as Bobby Brown is, predictably, presented as a hyper-macho, insecure womanizer. However, the film also stops short of demonizing him, with Houston’s drug use shown as something she indulged in before she ever met Brown. He’s not necessarily the bad guy here.
That said, music biopics do, ultimately, need to have some kind of villain, with Clarke Peters as Houston’s controlling manager/father, John, filling that role. He’s depicted as an abusive, philandering spend-thrift who hands out Mastercards like candy to his staff, leaving his daughter broke in the process. By contrast, her mother, Cissy (Tamara Tunie), is presented as controlling but sympathetic, while out of good taste, the issues Whitney’s daughter Bobbi Kristina suffered from aren’t depicted. Clive Davis, the record exec who nurtured Houston’s career, is played by a dynamic Stanley Tucci (who evokes the man well if you’ve ever seen him in interviews). Davis also produced the film, allowing a host of Houston’s recordings to be used.
Whitney’s drug dependence is acknowledged in the movie. However, it shies away from digging too deep into the more unseemly aspects, such as those we saw on exploitative reality shows like Being Bobby Brown. The film knows that we, as an audience, are aware of what ultimately destroyed her life, so the film opts to end on a high note performance, which is seemingly the status quo for all biopics depicting stars that ultimately died tragically.
In the end, I Wanna Dance with Somebody does what it set out to do – pay tribute to a one-in-a-lifetime talent. While the film is probably too conventional to truly become a classic of the genre, it’s still an entertaining watch. However, more than Ackie or anyone else in the cast, the music itself is ultimately the star of the show.