Review: Clumsy Whitney Houston biopic mars its star’s skill

MARK KENNEDY – AP Entertainment Writer

Whitney Houston’s voice was one of a kind and the creative team behind a new big-budget biopic of the singer have been forced to agree. Naomi Ackie plays Houston in “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” and turns in a fierce performance but is asked to lip-sync throughout to Houston biggest hits. The effect is, at best, an expensive karaoke session, writes Associated Press critic Mark Kennedy. “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” is more like a hyped-up “Behind the Music” episode set to Houston’s greatest hits album.

“I Wanna Dance With Somebody,” a Sony Pictures release exclusively in theaters Dec. 23, is rated PG-13 for “strong drug content, some strong language, suggestive references and smoking.” Running time: 146 minutes. Two stars out of four.

It opens Friday in movie theaters.

PHOTO INFO: music executive Clive Davis (left) and actor Stanley Tucci (right) attend the world premiere of “Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody” at AMC Lincoln Square on Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2022, in New York.  Tucci portrays Davis, who discovered Whitney Houston, in the movie.  (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

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