Whitney (film)

Synopsis

In 1989, Whitney Houston (Yaya DaCosta) is a worldwide phenomenon and household name with two highly successful self-titled albums under her belt. She attends the 3rd Annual Soul Train Awards with her high school friend and road manager Robyn, (Yolonda Ross) who is a lesbian. It is here that she meets R&B star Bobby Brown (Arlen Escarpeta) and they begin a courtship shortly after, due to her being impressed with Brown's performance of "Every Little Step".

As Houston begins recording her third album I'm Your Baby Tonight the relationship between her and Brown continues to blossom consistently, leading to a sexual relationship between the two. Unbeknownst to her, Brown is in a relationship with his girlfriend Kim, (Nafessa Williams) who had just given birth to his daughter. Just as Houston discovers this, she is left heartbroken and infuriated. Bobby later severs ties with Kim, and Whitney later manages to pull through and persevere in the already hectic relationship.

By the start of the 1990s, Brown starts to deal with pressures after the release of his second album Don't Be Cruel while Houston deals by coping with cocaine use (which is hinted at earlier in the film, by two instances: at her twenty-sixth birthday where Brown first discovers her using it, and in another during a meeting with Clive Davis (Mark Rolston) regarding her third album), however both are overshadowed by the love affair that continues to grow.

In 1991, the courtship later becomes public knowledge, and Houston and Brown are engaged, much to the chagrin of her mother Cissy Houston (Suzzanne Douglas), and they are soon married by July 1992. In the meantime, Houston makes her film debut in the lead role of Rachel in The Bodyguard. She is reluctant at first, but Brown coerces her into doing so. She ultimately accepts. During filming, Houston has a miscarriage with her first child, leading her to become very sickly. As Cissy pressures her to give up on the relationship, Houston rejects her mother's plea and continues to stay with Brown. Brown, by this time, is hit with a dry spell in his career, in which his record label pressures him to put out a greatest hits disc.

Whitney struggles to keep up with fame and placate Bobby, whose career has taken a back seat to hers, as she continues to dabble with drug use after the birth of their daughter Bobbi Kristina. Soon after, The Bodyguard and its subsequent soundtrack becomes a massive success, leading Whitney to go on an international tour for nearly two years.

Critical reception

Whitney has received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics and holds a 62% approval (certified "fresh") rating on Rotten Tomatoes. On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film received an average score of 54, which indicates "mixed or average" reviews, based on 17 reviews.