Whitney: Can I Be Me (2017)

Original title: Whitney: Can I Be Me
Year: 2017
Running time: 90 min.
Country: United States
Director: Nick Broomfield, Rudi Dolezal
Screenwriter: Nick Broomfield, Marc Hoeferlin
Music: Nick Laird-Clowes
Cinematography: Sam Mitchell
Cast: Documentary, Whitney Houston
Producer: Lafayette Film / Passion Pictures / Showtime. Distributed by Showtime Networks [USA]
Genre: Documentary | Music Documentary. Biography
Synopsis / Plot: 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.

Critics' reviews

"It just has a story to tell, and it does that incredibly compellingly (...) The movie has a haunting effect."

Owen Gleiberman: Variety
"Absorbing enough but superficial (...) It becomes a little too archetypal (...) [It] is heavy on glib generalizations but light on sharp insights or juicy revelations."

Stephen Dalton: The Hollywood Reporter
"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."

Jude Dry: Indiewire
"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."

Matt Fagerholm: rogerebert.com
"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"

Ren Jender: Village Voice
"It doesn’t disappoint (...) This should be required viewing for all those who might seek to follow Houston’s path to fame and fortune"

Fionnuala Halligan: Screendaily
"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)"

Helen O'Hara: Empire
"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."

Andrew L. Urban: Urbancinefile

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