Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody
Directed by Kasi Lemmons
- MercyApril 14, 2026“Yes… Yes, I’m exhausted. All black women are exhausted” 💯 💀 On a serious note, I really appreciated the ending and how they chose not to leave out the reality of the situation, but to shift the focus towards Whitney doing what she loved the most rather than making it all about her tragic death. It was still informative, but also very beautiful 🎵 ❤️
- tikisaJanuary 3, 2026I have been familiar with Whitney Houston's work for over 30 years. From time to time, I listen to her songs and watch her music videos and live performances. This film is, above all, dedicated to her talent, her artistry, her journey as a singer, her magnificent music, and that greatest of voices. Everything about it is in the absolute highest superlative. I truly enjoyed watching it and I am very happy that this Star still shines for me and shares her warmth.
- Kevin WardJuly 4, 2025This is a bit of a mixed bag as far as music biopics go. First, Naomi Ackie is really excellent and handles all of the elements with precision from Whitney’s mannerisms and movements the incredibly difficult task of lip syncing to Whitney’s vocals. It’s not easy to make lip syncing look believable, but I think for the most part it’s accomplished really well. There is simply no substitute for Whitney’s voice and being able to use all her original recordings is a huge plus. The film does really well to recreate/recapture many of her Houston’s most iconic moments. Even though there isn’t anything as flashy as say a Baz Luhrman musical, director Kasi Lemmons does enough to summon the emotions of seeing these moments in real life. Unfortunately, much of the behind the music drama isn’t as compelling depicted. It could have (and should have) been so much more. But even though the drama is a bit surface level and boring at times, Whitney’s voice serves as the ultimate cheat code. If the audience starts to get bored, just hit ⬆️⬆️⬇️⬇️⬅️➡️⬅️➡️🅱️🅰️ and her rendition of the The Star Spangled Banner and the 1994 American Music Awards medley starts playing. It’s hard not to be moved to tears knowing that that voice was silenced so prematurely. Ultimately, it’s a nice tribute, but not a great biopic. P.S. I didn’t know where to fit this in to my review, but I found it humorous that it was clear that they could only obtain the rights to a single 1.5 second clip of Kevin Costner from The Bodyguard. They must’ve paid a pretty penny for it though, because they used the sh🤩 out of it in that segment of the film. 😆
- ርልዪረJanuary 29, 2025🎶Whitney Houston rises from unknown gospel singer to global superstar. A routine, run of the mill seen it all before but still enjoyable music biopic with an excellent performance from Naomi Ackie as Whitney Houston and good supporting performances from Stanley Tucci as her manager and Clarke Peters as her father in a movie which should at least please Whitney Houston fans covering the period from her discovery in 1983 up till her death in 2012 with a checklist covering her greatest hits.
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Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody Trivia
Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody was released on December 21, 2022.
Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody was directed by Kasi Lemmons.
Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody has a runtime of 2h 24m.
Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody was produced by Pat Houston, Clive Davis, Lawrence Mestel, Denis O'Sullivan, Anthony McCarten, Jeff Kalligheri.
A joyous, emotional, heartbreaking celebration of the life and music of Whitney Houston, one of the greatest female R&B pop vocalists of all time, tracking her journey from obscurity to musical super stardom.
The key characters in Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody are Whitney Houston (Naomi Ackie), Bobby Brown (Ashton Sanders), Clive Davis (Stanley Tucci).
Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody is rated PG-13.
Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody is a Music, Biography, Drama film.
Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody has an audience rating of 9.2 out of 10.
Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody had a budget of $50M.
Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody has made $59.8M at the box office.