Lifetime's Whitney Houston biopic, aptly titled Whitney, premiered last night, Jan. 17, much to the dismay of the singer's family. The Houston family released a statement prior to the debut of the Angela Bassett-directed film to remind fans that there was a lack of involvement by people who knew the diva. Critics weighed in on the biopic, and by most accounts, it was one of the network's better efforts.
According to Billboard, since Houston estate was not involved in the making of the film, the singer's famous tunes were re-recorded by Deborah Cox so star Yaya DaCosta could lip-sync along. Other than that, most reviews said the biopic was incomplete, focusing on Houston's best years and leaving out her untimely death.
"The movie does not shy away from emotional portrayals of the couple's [Houston and Bobby Brown] drug abuse, codependency and personal tragedy, nor does it let either one off the hook when it comes to mistakes and bad decisions. ... Together, there is a palpable allure. And Bassett, using sound instincts, also films them in several extremely intimate, lavishly sensual scenes," Allison Keene of The Hollywood Reporter wrote.
Keene also praised the makeup and wardrobe departments, which made DaCosta and Arlen Escapeta (Brown) look as accurate as possible.
"For two hours, this film cherry-picks moments of Houston's life — some recognizable, some not — and stitches them together into a perplexing, not altogether comforting quilt," New York Times critic Jon Caramanica wrote. "It feels as if it were conceived and executed from afar. What's more, this is a biopic that's skeptical of its subject, that at times appears to be working actively against her interests."
While most writers praised DaCosta's depiction of the legend, the movie, as a whole, was just mediocre.
"One day a great film might be made about Houston's life, but Whitney is not it. While neither overly salacious or reverent, Whitney — which focuses almost exclusively on her relationship with Brown — lacks dynamism in telling the tale of a very dynamic life," Sarah Rodman of The Boston Globe added.
