One of the surprisingly few films to hit theaters over the Christmas Bank Holiday weekend — Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody — isn’t getting a warm reception from critics.
The first wave of reviews surfaced on Wednesday morning – just days before the film hit theaters on Friday, earning just a 41% rating from the first 32 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.
While many critics have lauded Naomie Ackie’s powerful performance — which fans have slammed for not looking like the singer — as the famous singer, they also blast the formulaic story that lacks depth.
Critics have arrived: One of the surprisingly few films to hit theaters over the Christmas holiday weekend – Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody – is not getting a warm reception from critics
While many critics praise Naomie Ackie’s powerful performance as a famous singer, they also criticize the formulaic story for lacking depth.
Critics: While many critics praise Naomie Ackie’s powerful performance as a famous singer, they also criticize the formulaic story for lacking depth.
One of the positive reviews comes from Variety’s Owen Gleiberman, who added that the film feels like a different kind of biopic because Houston’s struggles with substance abuse and her tumultuous marriage to Bobby Brown have always been in the public eye, adding, ” But as you watch, you may realize how much of the story you didn’t know and how compelling it is.
“I Wanna Dance With Somebody is the kind of lavishly passionate, all-stops-out biopic that you either get into or don’t — and if you do, you might get so emotional, baby,” he added.
The critic admitted that Ackie doesn’t look particularly like Houston — which has been a common criticism since the trailer debuted in September — although he praised her performance.
Pros: One of the positive reviews comes from Variety’s Owen Gleiberman, who added that because Houston’s struggles with substance abuse and her turbulent marriage to Bobby Brown have always been in the public eye, this movie felt like a different kind of biopic : “Not Yet As you watch, you may realize just how much of the story you didn’t know and how moving it is
Admit: The critic admitted that Ackie doesn’t look particularly like Houston – which has been a common criticism since the trailer debuted in September – although he praised her performance
“She shows you the freedom that made Houston tick and the self-doubt that nagged her until she fell off the mountaintop she scaled,” Gleiberman said, but also praised her lip-synching skills, adding: “The decision to use Houston’s real voice throughout was the right one.’
One of the many negative reviews came from USA Today’s Brian Truitt, who gave the film two stars out of four, though he also praised Ackie for being “fabulous” like Houston.
Still, he was among many critics who bemoaned the story for not offering much depth or nuance to her life, calling it “a Wikipedia entry brought to mediocre life on screen.”
Freedom: “She shows you the freedom that made Houston tick and the self-doubt that nagged her until she fell off the mountaintop she scaled,” Gleiberman said, while praising her lip-synching skills, adding : “The decision to use Houston’s real voice throughout was the right one.
Whitney: Still, he was among the many critics who lamented the story for not offering much depth or nuance in its life, calling it “a Wikipedia entry brought to mediocre life on screen.”
“‘Somebody’ runs through episodes from Houston’s personal and professional life without fleshing out anything nuanced or surprising,” he adds of the film.
The Hollywood Reporter’s David Rooney praised the “lovely crafted biopic” and the decision to use Houston’s real voice on the songs.
“As always, critics will sniff at the well-known conventions of the music biopic. But the spirit of I Wanna Dance With Somebody transcends those conventions far more often than it is weighed down by them,” he said.
Life: “Somebody loops through episodes from Houston’s personal and professional life without fleshing out anything nuanced or surprising,” he adds of the film
“Anyone who loves Whitney Houston and her music will leave the film with that love amplified – especially anyone who sees it in a theater with a sound system that shakes the walls,” he added.
David Ehrlich’s C-IndieWire review also compared the film to Houston’s Wikipedia page, adding, “Anthony McCarten’s algorithmic script skips the various sections of Houston’s Wikipedia page with all the flow of a scratched greatest hits CD.”
“Once her career takes off, the rest of her life boils down to an increasingly less sophisticated set of reactions to what happened in the previous scene, which speaks less of Houston’s struggle to be everything to everyone and more of desperation of this film will be something for everyone,” Ehrlich added.
Wikipedia: David Ehrlich’s C-IndieWire review also compared the film to Houston’s Wikipedia page, adding, “Anthony McCarten’s algorithmic script skips the various sections of Houston’s Wikipedia page with all the flow of a scratched greatest hits CD. “
Ehrlich was also impressed by Ackie’s performance, adding, “The radiant lead performance weaves octaves of emotion into a script full of flat notes so convincingly that you’ll probably often forget she lip-synched Houston’s songs.”
Other negative reviews came from The Washington Post’s Thomas Floyd in a scathing 1.5 star rating (out of 5).
“Viewing the pop singer’s life story is like listening to a greatest hits album, with just as little narrative coherence,” Floyd said.
Naomi: Ehrlich was also impressed by Ackie’s performance, adding, “The radiant lead performance pours octaves of emotion into a script full of flat notes so convincingly that you’ll probably often forget she lip-synched Houston’s songs.”
Vanity Fair’s Richard Lawson added, “I Wanna Dance with Somebody ultimately unfolds as a boilerplate biopic, a series of increasingly unfortunate events presented with little narrative form or structure.”
Eric Henderson of Slant Magazine added in his 2 star rating (out of 4): “There are only clichés in this rise-and-fall material, the only distinctive crease being the weight placed on the rise over the fall will.”
Kasi Lemmons (Eve’s Bayou, Harriet) directs from a script by Anthony McCarten (Bohemian Rhapsody), with Stanley Tucci playing Clive Davis, who discovered Houston as a teenager, Ashton Sanders as Bobby Brown and Nafessa Williams as Robyn Crawford.
Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody opens in theaters December 23 and competes against Paramount’s Babylon in wide release.
Whitney: Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody opens in theaters December 23 and takes on Paramount’s Babylon in wide release