This is a joyous, emotional, heartbreaking celebration of the life and music of Whitney Houston (Naomi Ackie), one of the greatest R&B pop vocalists of all time, tracking her journey from obscurity to musical superstardom. Discovered by record executive Clive Davis (Stanley Tucci), Houston rises to fame in the 1980's to become one of the greatest singers of her generation, subsequently obtaining the title "The Voice". As with so many other talented past singers, Houston had a litany of issues--drug and alcohol issues to mention a couple.
Others to round out the cast are Ashton Edwards as Bobby Brown, Tamara Tunie as Cissy Houston, Whitney's mother, Clarke Peters as John Houston, Whitney's father, Napessa Williams as Robyn Crawford, Daniel Washington as Gary Houston, JaQuan Malik Jones as Michael Houston, Kris Sidberry as Pat Houston and Dave Heard as Rickey Minor.
This was executed well by director Kasi Lemmons ("Eve's Bayou" '97, "The Caveman's Valentine" '01, "Talk to Me" '07, "Black Nativity" '13, "Harriet" '19) plus TV and a short. Considering this filmmaker's very eclectic resume, it was not surprising that she wouldn't be able to handle a film such as this. Really, the only other film that is basically a biopic that she has directed is "Harriet", so she didn't have a great amount of experience with this particular genre, however having the one film under her belt could've only helped her with this project. The pacing of Ackie and Tucci was exercised well and brought a certain realism to those characters. It was adequately written by Anthony McCarten ("The English Harem" (TV movie) '05, "Show of Hands" (based on his novel) '08, "Death of a Superhero" (based on his novel) '11, "The Theory of Everything" '14, "Darkest Hour" '17, "Bohemian Rhapsody" '18, "The Two Popes" '19) plus TV and shorts. Although this screenplay was accurately written as far as pacing, clarity, cohesiveness and sequencing of the different scenes, I can't help but think that it would've been clearer to the audience if McCarten had delved more into why and how Houston became as problematic as she did. In other words, what and or who drove her to the bevy of issues she ended up with? I realize that by adding this aspect, it would only increase the running time longer than it already is, however if he decreased a bit of the section where she was problematic because of the issues, the running time probably wouldn't be any longer, but we would receive more of a poignant insight of this troubled soul. Otherwise, this script was rock solid by an obvious and experienced writer.
Certainly if you like the music of Whitney Houston, which I do, you will revel with this. Interesting that she did lead a double life as a bisexual which did surprise me, but I suppose it is somewhat understanding since the biz she was in caters to many different lifestyles. If one sees this, it will clearly be for the music, since she was donned as 'The Voice'.
Out of 4 Stars: 3 Rated: PG-13 145mins.
No comments:
Post a Comment