While I would not call myself a Whitney Houston fan, it is hard to deny the power of her voice and how big of a knockout her songs were. Houston is known as 'the voice' for a reason and I am happy to agree that she was the best of her generation.
Going into this new release, I had seen a couple of pretty good documentaries within the last five years. The 2018 one in particular gives us a full and thorough look at her career.
Most of it feels like the traditional biopics of yesteryear where it is told in chronological order and moves along in a militarised procedure. But it does have nice non-linear moments to leave you going out on a high.
The standouts that make this film work are lead Naomi Ackie and the always brilliant Stanley Tucci. While it was always to be hard to replicate Houston's singing and natural beauty, Ackie did as good of a job as anyone else could have. The movements of Houston was noticeable as well as her personality.
The chemistry with Tucci's character was comforting and touching. Tucci still remains one of the all-time great actors for a supporting role. I don't know he does it. But he always manages to deliver.
There were also some nice moments from Nafessa Williams, Tamara Tunie and Clarke Peters.
I wasn't really into Ashton Sanders. I don't think he gave much to his character despite the importance of it. Plus, the dialogue he was given was pretty uninspiring.
In fact, I could say the script as a whole was a bit basic. It just did the dialogue to a serviceable level.
In terms of its production, it's perfectly fine. They recreate a lot of her iconic moments really well and the way they mix in the archive footage is seamless.
With the amount of music biopics in the last few years, this has to do really well to even compete with the likes of 'Rocketman' and 'Elvis'. So with the approach of this one being a bit too safe and traditional in tone and structure, I can see this being forgotten quicker than expected.
Most of the film is purely just recreating Houston's big hits and most her notable moments that we already know about. Whenever it gets the more controversial aspects, it's either quickly covered or doesn't hit it hard enough. 'Bohemian Rhapsody' got away with doing that in my view. But not quite with this one.
Even with those issues, it still felt a solid watch for me. It's thanks mainly to Ackie's performance. The mannerism's and attitude is on point and the energy during some of the recreated performances are done well.
I also liked the way they cut in the archive footage as it meshed in well with actual film footage.
Obviously Houston's music is hard to not be moved by in any situation. So it has enough going for it to get a pass rating. But I feel the 12A rating limited it from the truest portrayal possible. That's why I feel the 2018 documentary 'Whitney' remains the definitive version that tells this story.
Rating: 7/10
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