Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody Review — Naomi Ackie shines as the astounding singer in the glorious biopic

Language: English

Cast: Naomi Ackie, Stanley Tucci, Ashton Sanders, Tamara Tunie, Nafessa Williams, and Clarke Peters.

Director: Kasi Lemmons

In recent times, we have come across biopics of several musical biopics like Bohemian Rhapsody, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, Weird and others. In fact, many of the biographical stories narrate the journey with a similar route, which starts with the struggle followed by success, some controversies and then downfall.

Well, the biopic of the iconic singer Whitney Houston also goes through the same route. However, what is commendable is director Kasi Lemmons' beautiful perception of celebrating the complex and incomparable life of Whitney Houston, who was synonymous during her peak.

Talking about the premise, the musical biopic narrates the inspirational, poignant and emotional journey of Whitney from being a New Jersey choir girl to one of the most-awarded artists of all time. In her trailblazing career, she set new benchmarks by beating the Beatles, Elvis Presley and many biggies.

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However, in the later phase, we see the dark side of her glamorous life as her addiction towards drugs impacts not only her voice and melody but everything around her. In addition to that, her volatile marriage to Bobby Brown (Ashton Sanders) shatters her completely.

Apart from personal problems, the film effectively shows how Whitney faced public criticism, where she was called 'not Black' enough and 'Oreo' on the public platforms.

Coming to performances, Naomi Ackie poured her soul and gave a nuanced and supreme performance as the astounding vocalist Whitney Houston. Ashton Sanders nails the layered and manipulative portrayal of Bobby Brown. Nafessa Williams as ex-GF and creative director of Whitney, Robyn Crawford is simply superb. Her camaraderie with Naomi is one of USPs of the movie. Tamara Tunie and Clarke Peters as Whitney's parents Cissy and John Houston are top-notch. Stanley Tucci of Clive Davis of Arista Records delivers a subtle yet impactful performance.

Despite being far from a perfect film, I Wanna Dance With Somebody deserves a watch for the impeccable performances of the ensemble.

Rating: 3 (out of 5 stars)

Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody is playing in cinemas near you

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