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Whitney: Can I Be Me

2017

Nick Broomfield, Rudi Dolezal

Documentary, Self: Whitney Houston

6.2

567

Documentary By the time Whitney Elizabeth Houston was 15, she was singing background vocals for Chaka Khan, Lou Rawls, and Jermaine Jackson. In 1983 Whitney signed a worldwide recording contract with Clive Davis's Arista Records. However her success came with its fair share of drug use, love affairs, and scandals.

	Author	Review
United States	Owen Gleiberman Variety	"It just has a story to tell, and it does that incredibly compellingly (...) The movie has a haunting effect."	POS
United States	Stephen Dalton The Hollywood Reporter	"Absorbing enough but superficial (...) It becomes a little too archetypal (...) [It] is heavy on glib generalizations but light on sharp insights or juicy revelations."	NEU
United Kingdom	Fionnuala Halligan Screendaily	"It doesn’t disappoint (...) This should be required viewing for all those who might seek to follow Houston’s path to fame and fortune"	POS
United States	Jude Dry IndieWire	"Nick Broomfield and Rudi Dolezal take a strong stand, connecting the dots between a number of pivotal moments in Houston’s life that led to her heartbreaking decline."	POS
United Kingdom	Helen O'Hara Empire	"It can’t quite illuminate her fate (…) An informative but incomplete look at Whitney Houston’s life and death, this will frustrate fans as much as it fascinates them (...) Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"	NEU
United States	Matt Fagerholm rogerebert.com	"Though there are plentiful joyous performance sequences to savor, I found the film to be deeply sorrowful, reminding us of all that was lost when a great voice was forever silenced."	POS
United States	Ren Jender Village Voice	"Although it offers an astute analysis of how Clive Davis tailored Houston’s sound and image to appeal to a white audience (...) the film doesn’t use enough of Houston’s music"	NEU
Australia	Andrew L. Urban Urbancinefile	"Edited into a cohesive work, the film provides more than a glimpse, less than a complete insight, but it is a fascinating exploration for fans and anyone else interested in the human condition."	POS

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