Review Roundup: Lifetime's WHITNEY Biopic

One of this year's most highly anticipated television films, WHITNEY, airs tomorrow, Saturday, January 17 at 8 PM EST/7 PM CST, on Lifetime. The film details the extraordinary life of Whitney Houston and her turbulent marriage to singer Bobby Brown. The story is told through the vision of Golden Globe Award winner and Academy Award nominee Angela Bassett, in her directorial debut.

Noree Victoria plays the role of Sheryl, an associate of Bobby Brown, and appears alongside actress Yaya DaCosta, who stars as Whitney, and actor Arlen Escarpeta, playing Bobby Brown. Houston's hit songs featured in the film are sung by Grammy-nominated and multiplatinum-selling soul singer Deborah Cox.

Reviews have already started to roll in - scroll down to see what the critics had to say...

Jon Caramanica, The New York Times: We need a new term to describe the sort of history on offer in "Whitney," the Whitney Houston biopic that airs Saturday on Lifetime...Maybe "fantastical history" is the term? For two hours, this film cherry-picks moments of Ms. Houston's life -- some recognizable, some not -- and stitches them together into a perplexing, not altogether comforting quilt. In this film, Ms. Houston (Yaya DaCosta) is a towering talent, a movie star, a pop queen. She is a loyal wife and a heartbroken woman. She is a drug user and a has-been. All of those things were true, but the percentages of each in this movie hardly jibe with the public record...it feels as if it were conceived and executed from afar...This film also has axes to grind. Clive Davis, the mogul who discovered Ms. Houston, appears a couple of times, but only as a monstrous figure of music-business bottom-line obsession...Ms. DaCosta fluently mimics Ms. Houston's gestural tics, the quick neck-snaps and chin-juts that she brought to her performances. And Ms. Houston's vocals are delivered gloriously by Deborah Cox, the rare singer who can even approximate Ms. Houston's pyrotechnics.

Brian Lowry, Variety: ...what emerges is surprisingly compelling, if decidedly constricted take on the singer's life, focusing squarely on her relationship with Bobby Brown, and ending well before her untimely death at age 48. Mostly, the whole exercise benefits from the radiance of Yaya DaCosta (seen in "Lee Daniels' The Butler") in the title role, who brings a star quality to the thin material worthy of the artist she portrays...Working from a script by Shem Bitterman, Bassett manages to make both of her leads relatively sympathetic, and to keep the story moving even when not a lot is happening. DaCosta, meanwhile, captures Houston's vulnerability while still being able to rock an assortment of fabulous outfits in a musical montage sequence, with Deborah Cox providing the vocals in a manner that unerringly captures the singer's trademark belt...And for those who will always love Houston, "Whitney" provides a reminder why, while shedding a narrow spotlight on a couple who spent most of their lives under the distorting glare of a big blinding one.

Verne Gay, Newsday: The best part of "Whitney" is by far the most important part -- DaCosta's performance. It's full of warmth and passion and an unspoken sense that, three years after Houston's death, what most fans probably want to remember, or do remember, is the Houston life force. That style, and grace, and elegance, and beauty . . . and especially that joy...DaCosta...instead captures the butterfly -- or the one people fell in love with in the first place. (The second-best part? Cox's vocal tracks. Her voice is plummier than Houston's, but she also has the requisite range and power. She's terrific, too.) But what Bassett has done is to write a love letter to Houston and Brown. Escarpeta's Brown subverts the prevailing public image of him in every scene -- here, he's a gentle soul with a good heart, who wants to do right by his children and Whitney...Bassett refuses to cast blame for the troubles, and we're left with a portrait that has plenty of love -- just not a whole lot of insight or edge.

David Hinckley, New York Daily News: You always suspected there had to be something going on with Whitney Houston, and this lean biopic suggests that's true, without being judgmental or pointing any fingers. Angela Bassett's drama about Houston's life, covering the five years after she met her husband Bobby Brown, wisely doesn't pretend to have the big answers, or even a lot of the small ones...So "Whitney" is an odd mix. The love feels real, and you begrudge them none of it. Yet the problems are just as real, and it's hard to see what could have averted them.

Dominic Patten, Deadline: Whitney is just not good at all -- even by celeb biopic standards. It's also not about the superstar's last years and death just before the 2012 Grammys, if that is what you are looking for. Stiff in direction and acting and without any of Houston's singing, the biopic features former America's Next Top Model runner-up Yaya DaCosta in the title role. Arlen Escarpeta plays her husband and ex-New Edition member Bobby Brown. Mark Rolston is there in a very unflattering portrayal of music mogul Clive Davis. Full video review here.

Aramide A Tinubu, Indiewire: Perhaps it was because of this friendship and reverence for the star that allowed Ms. Bassett to make the, surprisingly, honest, passionate, and well-done "Whitney"...Yaya DaCosta as Whitney Houston paints a portrait of a loving and beautiful woman struggling to remain present as her status as an icon swiftly overwhelms her...Relative newcomer Arlen Escarpeta, while in no way favoring Bobby Brown, portrays a man in love, but still very much a product of his environment, which is evidenced by his wild ways...But "Whitney" is made even better due to the fact that DaCosta and Escarpeta have amazing chemistry...Though the film is not without its faults. The most glaring is the fact that none of Whitney's actual vocals are used...Though Ms. Cox has an amazing voice, Whitney Huston's vocals are iconic, and the fact that they weren't used is noticeable...But, overall, the film gives a surprisingly fresh and overarching window into Whitney and Bobby's highly publicized and scrutinized relationship.

Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times: "Whitney"...is certainly not the worst film to be made from a real person's life...But though it works in parts and pieces...it doesn't add up to much...Indeed, it might more accurately be called "Whitney and Bobby," since it...almost entirely concerns their relationship, even when music, business or extended family matters are involved...The leads, including Yolonda Ross as Robyn Crawford (as Houston's childhood friend and tabloid-rumored lesbian lover, a thread this film doesn't really pick up), all do individually fine work, and DaCosta is remarkably convincing lip-syncing to Deborah Cox's re-recordings of Houston's hits. But though DaCosta and Escarpeta each creates a sympathetic character...they lack chemistry. For all the script insists otherwise, their love, and thus the film about it, feels something less than necessary.

Sarah Rodman, The Boston Globe: One day a great film might be made about Houston's life, but "Whitney" is not it. While neither overly salacious or reverent, "Whitney" -- which focuses almost exclusively on her relationship with Brown -- lacks dynamism in telling the tale of a very dynamic life, and falls short of illuminating anything about Houston that both diehard fans and casual observers of pop culture didn't already know...YaYa DaCosta does bear a resemblance to Houston and nails many of her mannerisms, but she is not a singer. So veteran R&B singer Deborah Cox re-created some of her friend's most famous vocals...and DaCosta lip-syncs to them. Cox is a gifted vocalist in her own right, and DaCosta is an apt mime. But that's also exactly what "Whitney" feels like: faking it. And for a film about an artist revered for her voice, that approach is woefully low-rent.

Pilot Viruet, Flavorwire: Despite the title, Whitney focuses less on Whitney Houston than on Bobby Brown and their tumultuous, abusive, and drug-fueled relationship...The biggest problem with Whitney -- that it just doesn't seem to give a s about its heroine except in the context of the man she married -- is neatly illustrated by the fact that the movie provides us with an extended Bobby Brown performance before a Whitney one...Throughout the courtship, the marriage, and the honeymoon phase, Whitney's career is booming, but the movie doesn't show any of this...At long last, we get a long performance sequence that's actually pretty great, especially by Lifetime's usual standards. To her credit, Yaya DaCosta makes a fine Whitney Houston and throws herself completely into the role. She is all-in, but the movie rarely gives her a chance to shine, because it rarely puts Whitney in the spotlight...Then it ends with title cards: about her divorce, some record-sales stats, and oh yeah -- she died. It's the first time Whitney makes any reference to her death; it doesn't show it on screen, it doesn't explain how or when she died, just that she did. It's more baffling than anything else.

David Wiegand, San Francisco Gate: "Whitney"...is an exceptional film for Lifetime, though: It's not bad, thanks largely to a stellar performance by YaYa DaCosta and modestly successful direction by actress Angela Bassett...DaCosta and other cast members, including Arlen Escarpeta as Brown and Mark Rolston as music mogul Clive Davis, almost manage to overcome a cliche-ridden script by Shem Bitterman...The first third of the film is especially good as it establishes Houston as a young woman of enormous talent and the determination not only to be successful but to enjoy her life in the process...Bassett's direction is more than competent. She clearly has the instincts to tell a good story and elicits superb performances to do so. Her pacing is off, and some of the scene changes too abrupt, but Bassett knows what she's doing when it comes to actors, which becomes paramount when working with an uninspired script...DaCosta is better than good -- she's terrific.

Vicki Hyman, NJ.com: "Whitney," Lifetime's highly-anticipated...Whitney Houston biopic disappoints on many levels -- it's not penetrating enough to be offer any real insights into Houston's long struggle with drugs, not salacious enough for those who enjoy a romp through the gutter, and not inept enough to mock...Little fault is due to star Yaya DaCosta, who...ably embodies Houston's grace, confidence and teasing good humor -- but she isn't given much to work with. "Whitney," which airs Saturday at 8 p.m., tells a shallow story, tightly focused on Houston's relationship with rising R&B bad boy Bobby Brown...Beyond the relationship drama, the movie touches lightly on Houston's attempts to take more control over her music and the direction of her career from guru Clive Davis, but it's only so much padding. Her music remains timeless, though, and that's when "Whitney" comes to life -- ironic, considering Houston's estate refused to give the production the rights to her music. So Bassett enlisted Deborah Cox...and Cox matches her power and phrasing with only a slight difference in tone.

Tirdad Derakhshani, Philadelphia Inquirer: One would think that a movie about the legendary vocalist, who sold nearly 200 million records worldwide, who battled drug addiction, and who died tragically in 2012, would call for a bigger budget, better actors, a better screenplay, better sets, furniture, costumes - and most certainly better lip-synching from its cast...For the most part, actors DaCosta and Escarpeta acquit themselves adequately as Houston and Brown. Both falter, and their acting comes off as entirely contrived in scenes that call for heightened emotions. Maybe it's the writing, or perhaps it's the acting, but Whitney paints Houston and Brown as facile, shallow, and emotionally stunted kids who played at having deep, Romeo-and-Juliet-style passion.

Maria Sciullo, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: "Whitney" tests Lifetime boundaries with some relatively racy love scenes. But for the most part, the movie is a candy-colored whirl through the shoulder-padded late 1980s...Bobby (Arlen Escarpeta) is generally portrayed as a caring boyfriend, husband, father, cheerleader. His own career as a writer and performer has been shelved as he walks in the shadow of his more famous wife, but that's (mostly) OK by him. Uh huh. Herein lies the tricky part. Were "Whitney" a TV movie about a fictional character and her travails, it might play pretty well. But this isn't fiction...With so much of this family's lives on display, including that of the couple's only child, Bobbi Kristina, it's hard to really buy into the story writer Shem Bitterman is selling.

Joey Guerra, Houston Chronicle: But the weakness of "Whitney," despite strong performances from Yaya DaCosta and Arlen Escarpeta, is in its narrow focus. The screenplay by Shem Bitterman begins and ends with Houston's obsessive relationship with Bobby Brown...DaCosta deftly handles the title role...She's greatly effective in capturing Houston's onstage mannerisms, facial expressions and casual gestures...It helps that she creates convincing chemistry with Escarpeta as an emotionally wounded Brown and with Ross as Crawford, who was long-rumored to be in a romantic relationship with Houston...Dance and R&B singer Deborah Cox provides the vocals for Houston's hits...She doesn't sound much like Houston but somehow captures the spirit and sentiment of the songs...Director Angela Bassett...doesn't do anything wrong with the material. But there's just not much here outside of the standard made-for-TV fare...With a stronger directing hand and a more compelling script, "Whitney" could have soared.

Kevin C. Johnson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "Whitney" is everything you'd expect from an unauthorized Lifetime biopic about Whitney Houston. That's not good news for Houston fans. Aside from strong lead performances from Yaya DaCosta and Arlen Escarpeta, "Whitney" is mostly a mess...this directorial debut from actress Angela Bassett, hastily shot in three weeks, feels tired...Escarpeta's Brown comes off mostly as a good guy who fell for a wild girl and watched her get wilder before succumbing to some of the same vices. Their romance is depicted on a surface level, breezily sailing through key points...The movie fails at really exploring the couple's ups and downs...DeCosta...makes the most of what she's given. Her lip syncing during the few musical numbers, including the climactic "I Will Always Love You," is as convincing as Deborah Cox's vocals...Escarpeta...comes through in a similarly tricky portrayal..."Whitney" can't capture a persona as large as Houston's. A big screen movie or HBO treatment would have made much sweeter noise.

Adrienne Johnson, News & Observer: It's not high praise to say that "Whitney"...is better than the other pop diva biopic presented by Lifetime, "Aaliyah, Princess of R&B," but it is better. It's not better because of the script...because the "Whitney" script is weak...What makes this film better...is that somehow the cast, led by Oscar-nominated actress Angela Bassett in her directorial debut, finds moments that feel real and heartfelt in a story that focuses on the relationship between Houston and Bobby Brown. Still, it's rough going to get to those moments...I'm going to give credit for the solid emotional scenes to Bassett's direction..."Whitney" also scores points for having some actual Whitney Houston songs sung by the great Deborah Cox, who, no fool, doesn't try to sound exactly like Whitney. She does a soulful riff at the end of "I Will Always Love You" that I think Whitney would have liked. "Whitney" isn't the definitive Houston film...It's a mediocre film that reminds us that the Houston and Brown marriage was real before it became a reality show.

Brad Oswald, Winnipeg Free Press: The first problem with Whitney is its title. The implication is that the TV movie that carries it will offer a biographical look at the life and career of its subject, music legend Whitney Houston. But in truth, the movie...offers few insights, personal or professional, about the singer, and focuses solely on a single aspect of her troubled and too-short life. A more accurate title might have been Whitney and Bobby, because the movie, helmed by first-time director Angela Bassett, provides little more than a rather sanitized look at Houston's tumultuous relationship with R&B singer/songwriter Bobby Brown...Even by the standards of superficiality applied in the TV-biopic realm, Whitney feels woefully incomplete. DaCosta and Escarpeta do the best they can with the material at their disposal, delivering credible but uninspired versions of their characters, but the script is as flimsy as it is flawed.

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Pictured: Yaya DaCosta as Whitney Houston. Image courtesy of Lifetime.

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