I Wanna Dance with Somebody

Directed by Kasi Lemmons, I Wanna Dance with Somebody follows Whitney Houston (Naomi Ackie) as she becomes one of the biggest recording artists in the world despite a wealth of problems and complications within her personal life. Filmmaker Lemmons, armed with Anthony McCarten’s screenplay, delivers a periodically watchable yet mostly underwhelming biopic that’s been suffused with some of the genre’s hoariest, most overused clichés and conventions, including the almost laughable opening wherein Whitney flashes back to her younger years before a pivotal performance, and it’s clear, certainly, that the ensuing arms-length atmosphere is perpetuated by an erratic storyline that awkwardly lurches from one episode to the next with little thought towards forward momentum or consistency. (It doesn’t help, either, that Lemmons’ superficial approach ensures that certain narrative elements receive short shrift in terms of context, with this especially true of a confusing relationship between Whitney and Nafessa Williams’ Robyn Crawford that may or may not be sexual in nature.) And although the picture admittedly does boast a small handful of agreeable attributes (eg Ackie’s strong performance, a few compelling behind-the-scenes sequences), I Wanna Dance with Somebody, which builds towards a fairly endless final performance, ultimately comes off as a mediocre, disappointing endeavor that’s rarely, if ever, as electrifying as one might’ve anticipated (and hoped).

** out of ****