The “greatest love of all” plays in the foreground.
Of all the songs to name a Whitney Houston biopic, why “I Wanna Dance With Somebody”? Of course, it was a worldwide hit and one of his best-known songs. But as we go along, we might just take it as a light-hearted pop song. That is, unless we’ve seen what that song might have meant to a shut-in young woman who felt trapped in the spotlight.
In the Kasi Lemmons-directed biopic I Wanna Dance With Somebody, which was made in cooperation with the Houston Estate(Opens in a new tab), this titular track becomes a coming-out anthem, posthumous at 10 years old. And though tinged with pain, the song and this radiant film celebrate a daring woman who wouldn’t let her voice be silenced.
I Wanna Dance With Somebody centers around Whitney Houston’s queer romance.
Before Bobby Brown, there was Robyn Crawford. She was known to the public for decades as Houston’s friend, assistant and ultimately creative director. But I want to dance with someone reveals the formative romance(Opens in a new tab) who forged the bond between Crawford and Houston, through dizzying highs and devastating lows.
Skipping Houston’s childhood, I Wanna Dance With Somebody begins in 1983 New Jersey, where Whitney (Naomi Ackie) in preppy pink and a confident butch(Opens in a new tab) Robyn (Nafessa Williams) meets as young women. Around Houston parents, who fill her schedule with church services, quality family time and nights together in clubs, Whitney is held to a princess-perfect standard, meant to appeal to thrill-seeking audiences. and conservative congregations. But around Robyn she can relax, laugh, play and dress however she pleases.
Ackie is incredible in his portrayal of Houston, not only capturing the iconic public figure so well known to the world, but also exploring private, happy and brutal moments. Lemmons uses the Houston recordings for vocals, but Ackie is a superb lip-syncher, selling it to the point where you might wonder if she’s really singing those tracks. However, there is no doubt about The Voice.
Ackie’s chemistry with Williams (whose on-screen presence sizzles with love and agony) is warm from their cute encounter, their smiles reflecting as their eyes blaze. Whether they’re laughing together, rejoicing over a song on the radio, or arguing about the future of their relationship, that chemistry keeps us rooting for Whitney and Robyn. Even though we know heartbreak happens.
I want to dance with someone silences the tabloids.
Houston’s life has been regularly put on show by ruthless gossip rags, but Lemmons’ approach refuses to play their game. the story of a larger than life pop idol. So Lemmons cleverly takes an IYKYK approach, essentially abbreviating the more outrageous tracks rather than indulging in them.
Houston’s addiction progression is suggested by a puff here, a toot there, and a scene where she looks ominous. The backlash against her is quickly outlined with a combative radio interview and a handful of protesters. The destruction of Whitney and Robyn’s honeymoon phase is accomplished in three short scenes. In one, Whitney’s homophobic father/manager demands that girls be more feminine and date boys. Enter: a duet recording session with a renowned male artist. Hard cut to Robyn tearfully shouting at Whitney, “You slept with Jermaine Jackson! »
It is a hard cut that could play as comical for its abruptness. But in the confident hand of Lemmons, the candor feels conversational, as if to say, “You know how it goes,” so the story can move beyond those high-profile elements back into the intimate.
Houston’s tumultuous relationship with Bobby Brown is handled with the same candor. In the film, their first flirtation turns into a dramatic proposal at breakneck speed. But Lemmons and Ackie seem less interested in inviting the audience into this troubled bond than they are in explaining what Bobby meant to Whitney. Aside from undeniable sexual attraction, she desires the attitude that he, as a black man in R&B, was allowed to exude publicly, where she would be scorned for such candor. Taunting the paparazzi together is their version of a first date, and Whitney is fired up with excitement at the thought of being able to fire back at those who treat her like helpless prey.
The couple’s descent into lawsuits, domestic strife, infidelity and divorce are handled with a slight aloofness, refusing to engage with Brown’s point of view, but not demonizing it either. The grief Bobby causes Whitney is clear through several screaming match scenes. Still, Lemmons moves past hurt feelings with a rousing recreation of Houston’s music video for “It’s Not Right, But It’s Okay.”(Opens in a new tab) (Other hit tracks are also used for smooth emotional bridges.) Then, for good measure, a recovering Whitney meets with Bobby to absolve him of all blame…even though the movie suggests he wasn’t the partner she really needed.
I Wanna Dance With Somebody seeks the Whitney Houston beyond the headlines.
A steady pace could overtake some of Houston’s darkest moments. Yet the impossibly high standards and constraints that locked the artist in are clear: her parents’ homophobic religious views, her high-pressure persona as America’s sweetheart, the weight of being a black woman in the eyes of the public, the demand for her to win, win, win to keep her family and her sprawling business afloat. (Opens in a new tab)
When her unflappable energy and megawatt smiles fade, Whitney confesses to Bobby, “I don’t know if I can do this anymore. Be everything to everyone. My heart sank in my guts when he looked at her face and replied, “Well, you can’t stop now, can you?” »
In a heartbreak movie, this moment is likely to hit the hardest, as one is asked to imagine what might have happened if Whitney had said this to Robyn. In real life, Brown even admits such curiosity, telling US Weekly in 2016(Opens in a new tab)“I really feel like if Robyn was accepted into Whitney’s life, Whitney would still be alive today. »
Without deviating hugely from the real story, this biopic opens up a possibility of what might have been if the artist who sang the “Greatest Love of All” had been asked to have his own on his own terms. And that brings us back to the title track.
In cliched musical biopics, a singer/songwriter has a big epiphany that inspires the catchy chorus we all know and love. However, Houston was not a songwriter. So his film avoids that trope. Instead, we spend time with her and record producer Clive Davis (Stanley Tucci in adorable dad mode) listening to demo tapes in search of a song she can make her own with The Voice. And while Davis shrugs over the bop, Whitney stumbles to express what it means to her. It’s about “really wanting to dance with someone, but – for some reason – you just can’t”.
Ackie’s delivery of “for whatever reason” is deceptively cheerful, but a stolen look at Robyn, perched on a nearby couch, says a lot about what daddy’s princess/America’s sweetheart/ the friendly and harmless Pop Star role model can’t dare to say. So she sang it. And from there, whatever the song, we can imagine that she sings it for the same reason: not only for Robyn, the woman she loves but cannot claim, but also for the Whitney who ‘she wants to be — but feels she can’t, without disappointing anyone or everyone.
In this way, I Wanna Dance With Somebody pulls Houston off the platform, pulls her from the tabloid mud, and welcomes her into the empathetic embrace of the queer community, happy to claim her as she was. Although Houston’s story ended tragically, her film takes us back to a pinnacle moment of success. With this, Lemmons invites us to remember Houston at its boldest and best. The result is a suitably grand, smart, provocative biopic — and as glorious as Whitney Houston deserves.
I Want to Dance With Somebody hits theaters on December 23.
