Director:Â Kevin MacDonald
Cast:Â Whitney Houston, Bobby Brown, Bobbi Kristina Brown, Cissy Houston, Robyn Crawford, L.A. Reid
Rating:Â 15
Running time:Â 119 mins
Release date:Â 06/07/2018
Given that it is only a year since Nick Broomfield’s documentary WHITNEY – CAN I BE ME hit the screens, are audiences ready for another one, this time from rival documentarian Kevin MacDonald?
The manner in which the late soul diva has been mulled over and speculated on for the last half-decade or so and perhaps the tabloids and media have overblown it a bit on what the overall picture would be, but if you are looking for a more honest and open assessment of what Whitney Houston meant, then this new film, simply titled WHITNEY will certainly give you a refined, refreshed perspective.
Given that many of the people involved in her evolution from gospel backing singer to international legend are featured in talking-head mode, amongst them Kevin Costner and her ex-husband Bobby Brown, there is certainly a mix of enlightenment and shock at some of the revelations, which are juxtaposed with many of the tabloid headlines and archive footage from the family vaults and media outlets.
Compared to CAN I BE ME, there is at least a little more emphasis on some of her performances over the years she was in her prime as the biggest-selling female artist (and thanks to her version of the Dolly Parton hit I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU, she still holds the prize as the biggest selling single) and it is this that edges the film over the Bloomfield work.
At times, though, you get a sense that many of the interviewees will neither confirm or deny some of Houston’s actions, notably with one of the senior execs at her record company who reacts strangely when pressed for whether or not her drug use was known to him and WHITNEY does seem a more cathartic and revealing documentary than most when getting to the root of the subject.
Much of the changing times are inter-cut here with familiar images of the civil rights changes and the political climate evolving, a sign of any structured documentary, but overall, WHITNEY is a compelling example of this genre of film-making.
