ReviewI Wanna Dance with Somebody movie review: Whitney Houston biopic starring Naomi Ackie as America’s sweetheart is a respectable retelling of singer’s story

Naomi Ackie stars as the biggest black artist of all time in this Whitney Houston biopic and truly sinks into the role

I Wanna Dance with Somebody features moments that will make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up – look out for her Super Bowl performance

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Naomi Ackie as Whitney Houston in a still from I Wanna Dance with Somebody (category IIA), directed by Kasi Lemmons. Stanley Tucci co-stars.

Published: 10:00pm, 21 Dec 2022Updated: 11:44pm, 21 Dec 2022

4/5 stars

“This is what they want – America’s sweetheart,” announces Whitney Houston in Kasi Lemmons’ biopic of the singer they nicknamed “The Voice”.

And that is exactly what Houston became when she released her first two albums. She mixed gospel, R&B and high-energy pop in songs like “How Will I Know” and “So Emotional”, crossing racial barriers and becoming the biggest black artist of all time.

Yet, like so many artists adored by millions, Houston’s narrative is one laced with tragedy.

Played with real swagger by British actress Naomi Ackie, Houston’s roller-coaster life is laid bare here, from her early days learning her craft with her singer mother, Cissy (Tamara Tunie), to finding her calling at Arista Records, with its benevolent founder, Clive Davis (Stanley Tucci), an “open book” as he calls himself.

There have been recent feature-length documentaries on her (Whitney Can I Be Me and Whitney, both revealing) and, perhaps because of that, the film could be seen as treading familiar ground.