The lives of musicians gone wrong, who died prematurely and unexpectedly for various reasons, are fertile ground for making biopics. They add, of course, the songs that have been hits and the combination usually works. Life stories that deserve to be told. And of WhitneyHoustonthere is no doubt, he is one of them.
But, and inside I want to dance with someone there is more than one but everything or almost everything is lost, vanishes, blurs. Despite the performance of Naomi Ackie, which, just as happened with Rami Malek in the role of Freddie Mercury Bohemian Rhapsodyhis voice is sometimes heard, though mostly Houston’s is heard.
Londoner Naomi Ackie (was Jannah in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker) does what it’s supposed to do. She interprets, copies and replicates Whitney’s gestures and movements almost perfectly. Houston’s acting style too. Nothing to reproach him.
But directed by Kasi Lemmons (Harriet, seeking freedom) everything ends in an alarming superficiality. Or rather, boring, which is actually worse.
There are Whitney’s most iconic songs, with songs like The greatest love of all, I will Always Love You and naturally, I want to dance with someoneAND.
biography with songs
And because it’s a biography, it opens with Whitney as a child, excelling in a New Jersey church choir, under the watchful eye of her mother, Cissy (Tamara Tunie). We will see how the record producer Clive Davis (Stanley Tucci, a little fuzzy is the actor of The devil wears Prada AND The Hunger Games) discovers it and astronomically becomes a star.
There’s her marriage to R&B artist Bobby Brown (Ashton Sanders) and she also struggles with drug addiction. We know the latter didn’t end well. Let’s not spoil anything: Whitney Houston died at the age of 48 in a hotel bathtub in 2012.
The film also plays against the very long duration: there are two hours and 24 minutes more than the same.
If the director manages some good moments, such as the recreation of the video clip of How do I knowand Houston’s famous rendition of the US anthem at the 1991 Super Bowl, it’s hard to understand why there’s so little of The bodyguards (a single image from the film, repeated twice). It will be a question of rights, just as we have the right to kick from the public.
That’s why it’s best for Whitney fans to look for documentaries Whitney: I can be meby Nick Broomfield, e Whitneyby Kevin Macdonald, the director of The last king of Scotland. There are songs, there are good reconstructions and, above all, a synthesis that I want to dance with someone it is not found at any time.
“I want to dance with someone”
Drama/Biography. USA, 2022. Original title: “Whitney Houston: I Want To Dance With Someone”. 144′, SA 13. From: Kasi Lemmons. With: Naomi Ackie, Stanley Tucci, Ashton Sanders. Rooms: Hoyts Abasto, Cinemark Palermo, Cinépolis Recoleta and Pilar, Showcase Belgrano and Norcenter.
Source: Clarin
