Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody (2022)

I Wanna Dance With Somebody may not be that great a movie. Instead of crafting an organic feeling narrative it just hits the beats of the legendary singer's life, one to the next. It doesn't create real characters, instead having each of its subjects simply fill a role. But despite all this it still manages to make you care about the woman at the centre of its story, and it gives up and coming star Naomi Ackie a chance to truly shine. 

Despite being rather rote in its general approach, I Wanna Dance With Somebody handles its beginning and ending quite well. The film choses to centre its story around Houston's iconic 1994 American Music Awards performance grounding her life story in this high point both artistically and emotionally. She is still one of the biggest stars in the world at this point and she is also surrounded by support and love, two things that wouldn't necessarily be true by the end. The film starts there with her being introduced to perform and it ends there with a Bohemian Rhapsody style recreation of the full performance which shows off all that the film and Ackie can do. And in doing so we don't get a gratuitous and exploitative death scene. Instead she gets to go out as she lived, a legendary performer. 

Otherwise the film mostly just bounces from one event in Houston's life to the next often without establishing much context or creating much emotional weight. Her addiction issues feel tacked on and some of the motivations of those around her widely swing without feeling organic. I didn't feel the film did her romantic relationships much justice. Props for including her long time relationship with Robyn Crawford, but the film doesn't explore it enough for it to have any real emotional heft. And the film is rather ambivalent about her marriage to Bobby Brown. Is he a beard? Is he a true love? Is he an abuser? The film never establishes any of it so it always feels like he's just in the background. Tucci as Clive Davis is probably the strongest role in the movie after Whitney and it's no surprise he nails the performance which the film centres as one of the most positive relationships in her life. 

But by focusing on the music, and the music moments, Whitney truly comes to life. Ackie mimics her seamlessly but also infuses a real humanity to Houston. We see her as we remember her, as The Voice, performing show stopping songs. So in the end the movie might just overcome its faults to be a love letter to its subject and inspire a remembrance of her greatness. 

I Wanna Dance With Somebody

Starring: Naomi Ackie, Stanley Tucci, Ashton Saunders, Tamara Tunie, Nafessa Williams, Clarke Peters

Director: Kasi Lemmons

Writer: Anthony McCarten