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It was a very sad day when the world found out about the passing of Whitney Houston in 2012. If you weren’t aware she was considered one of the best vocalists, if not the best vocalist of all time. Her musical career touched millions of people around the world. So if you were to say trying to capture her entire career in one film would be a difficult task, that would be an understatement. Director Kasi Lemmons (Harriet, Eve’s Bayou) decided to make this attempt, and for the most part, she did a decent to on-par job, but there’s so much missing from this film to make it stand out as the definitive life story of one of entertainment’s greatest musicians.
It starts with the casting of Naomi Ackie (Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker) as Whitney Houston. She may be a diehard fan of the late star and may have tried her best. There were moments during the film where she did embody the personality and demeanor of Houston, but it wasn’t consistent during large portions of the film. What did help with the performance was the wardrobe. There are tons of key moments during Whitney’s career that she’s known for and as soon as you see an image of her still today you can remember exactly what time that was in the past few decades. Naomi was able to capture that a few times during the film that will make you smile as a fan. However, It was a back and forth see-saw game of mimicking the late hero entirely or just trying your best and falling short. It isn’t a horrible performance at all but isn’t a great one either. There was a lack of emotion during key parts especially when dialogue was exchanged with her husband Bobby Brown (Ashton Sanders). He did a better job of fulfilling the role, but the story isn’t centered on his character. On a positive note characters such as Robyn Crawford (Nafessa Williams), John Houston (Clarke Peters), and Cissy Houston (Tamara Tunie) did have standout moments and they stole the show as far as delivery.
The best parts of the film were all of Whitney’s top songs throughout the years being recorded or performed on stage. 95% of the vocals in this film were the actual voice of Whitney, however, there still were a few moments where it was blatantly obvious that it wasn’t Naomi singing. Even if you knew it was Whitney the acting fell short. There wasn’t enough energy in Naomi’s performance to capture that magic that we all remember and love.
The film’s runtime comes in at right under two and a half hours, and I don’t know if the film should’ve been longer or if it should’ve focused on other parts of her life. Maybe this story could be appreciated more if this was a streaming television series to cover more of her life, but you could feel the length. The pacing and editing of this film were not the best either. The director tried to cram in so much of her story that it didn’t come across as complete. So much of her story felt skipped over which is interesting with how long the film is. There were multiple times when I felt I missed something which isn’t a good feeling. This film spends time from 1983 to 2012 which is a lot. We all grow and develop as humans over the years as Whitney did. However, there were too many jumps in Whitney’s personality that didn’t make any sense, and you left asking yourself how did we get here? What events took place that made Whitney change so much over the past few years? This is never explored and leaves you wondering and lost as an audience member. It feels that your enjoyment of this film will only reach optimal levels if you know Whitney’s career inside and out. Even if that is the case, you may be still left frustrated with all of the story that is clearly left out in this film.
The first half of this film, or at least the first act, was the worst. Showing Whitney’s parents argue was her launching pad into drugs? The film tries to suggest this, but it isn’t clear. It’s a scene that seems like it may have importance, but when looking back it’s pointless. It also may not be necessary to dive deep into Whitney’s drug use, but it felt skipped over and danced around as if the producers or someone close to Whitney was embarrassed. That aspect of her life doesn’t need to dominate the film, but these events are addressed as if you’re a little child who can’t handle the truth. For such an iconic person in the entertainment industry, the film should hit hard on everything, the good and the bad, and not shy away from it, and I feel that’s what this film did which is unfortunate.
In the end, everything was wrapped up nicely for a great tribute to the late artist. If you were looking for the emotion, it is during this time, but it would’ve been nice if this delivery was in the film the whole time. This isn’t a horrible movie, but it’s not recommended either. Whitney Houston deserves for her story to be told, and if this film is the highlight of that it’s extremely disappointing. Kasi Lemmons did direct Eve’s Bayou, a film I haven’t seen in years, but I still remember positive things about it. But this time around it’s a huge miss. I would love to say I’m rooting for Naomi to make it in Hollywood, but to be honest this film makes it difficult to board that train.
5.5/10