With less than half a million euros collected in its first 3 weeks, it cannot be said that the new film about the life of Whitney Houston has exactly been a commercial success in Spain. Nor was it outside, because he is sweating ink to reach the 45 million dollars that this film has cost: 42 million, 20 of them in the United States. ‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody’, with a script by Anthony McCarten, responsible for ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, seems like a missed opportunity. What happened?
In recent years we have seen the figure of Whitney Houston revitalized thanks to the way in which the song precisely called ‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody’ has settled in the collective imagination. It is approaching 1 billion streams by leaps and bounds. In addition, the remix of ‘Higher Love’ released a couple of seasons ago has brought Whitney’s figure closer to new generations, as many living artists can only dream of.
The film directed by Kasi Lemmons relapses into all the Hollywood clichés: it is an authorized biography, so Whitney’s relationship with drugs is treated only in a circumstantial way (and that they took her away). Bobby Brown’s mistreatment of the singer is barely treated despite being well documented, and there is hardly a trace of his problems with justice. Even the movie prefers to tell us in the footer of her that Whitney had THE VOICE (???), instead of the dramatic circumstances in which her daughter died, after her.
In its favor, it must be said that it does bring us closer to the figure of Whitney than other similar films, such as recently ‘Elvis’, showing for the first time her lesbian relationship with her assistant and friend Robyn Crawford, which she revealed a few years ago in the book ‘My Life with Whitney Houston’ after a lifetime of silence. Speaking of the extremely fast ‘Elvis’, and with the exception of the excessive final number of the AMA’s, clearly the work of the ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ screenwriter, this tape does leave you wanting to listen to the artist’s music thanks to its exposure of ‘How Will I Know’, ‘It’s Not Right But It’s OK’, ‘Greatest Love of All’ or even ‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody’.
The portrayal of her relationship with tycoon Clive Davis is also appreciated, which weaves the entire tape together: it may be idealized but at least it leaves a couple of exciting moments, like that scene in which he suggests going into rehab. Naomi Ackie’s performance doesn’t fall for the mimesis and grotesque characterization of Rami Malek, whose teeth worked very hard to kick you out of the movie about Freddie Mercury. As a film, it is entertaining in its telefilm-esque development. A “good” for a life and a work that gave for much more.
These and other issues are what we deal with in REVELATION OR SCAM, the JENESAISPOP PODCAST. In today’s episode we break down the film, as well as all of Houston’s discography from her first album to her last, highlighting releases like ‘My Love Is Your Love’ or her second album. Juan Sanguino accompanies us, whose 3 books are available in the JENESAISPOP online store. Remember that shipments are free for the Peninsula during this month, and there are also discounts for other territories.
