Whitney Houston: I want to dance with someone ★★½
BIOGRAPHY (2022)
Directed by Cassie Lemons
InterpretationsCast: Naomi Aki, Stanley Tucci, Ashton Sanders

“Her ability to sing fast, combined with incredible voice control, has made her a leading R&B singer. So we will always remember her.”

One of the greatest voices in the history of music is the biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, directed by Cassie Lemons and written by Oscar nominee Anthony McCarten. Naomi Aki, who plays Whitney Houston, from her first steps in a local New Jersey choir and next to her mother, who is also a singer, to her untimely tragic death in 2012, is likely to receive an Oscar nomination. In between, of course, there is absolute recognition, huge commercial success, moments of magic that she gave to millions of fans, as well as personal problems and fatal addiction to substances.

Lemons and McCarten stick to a strictly linear narrative in what is essentially an academic biography that nonetheless has a lot to offer, especially to Whitney Houston’s many fans. After all, her story up to a certain point looks almost like a fairy tale. A demanding mother, business father, and, of course, her gospel-rooted spring talent soon led the young Whitney to the doorstep of the music industry, and specifically to legendary producer Clive Davis, played beautifully by Stanley Tucci.

“Her ability to sing fast, combined with her incredible vocal control on ballads, made her the perfect pop and R&B singer. That’s why she stood out for so many years, and she will always be remembered, ”said Davis himself, who until the end remained a close associate of Houston. In the film, we see him go from “I Wanna Dance With Someone” to “I’ll Always Love You” and all the other big hits that have swept the charts around the world. The dark side is also present, with episodic marriage, sexual hobbies, a difficult relationship with his father, and enormous psychological pressure, which found an outlet in drugs.

All this is shown in great detail in front of the camera during the two and a half hours of the film, which probably would have had more coherence and pace if it had been significantly shorter without “overflowing” some scenes. Despite all this, one cannot fail to note the selfless performance of Naomi Aki, who manages to highlight the multifaceted Whitney in a rather one-dimensional film.