Whitney (2018)
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Whitney Movie Review
Whitney is a 2018 documentary film directed by Kevin Macdonald and following the highs and lows of Whitney Houston’s career and personal life. It’s such a great documentary.
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“When you don’t resolve things,
when you don’t deal with things,
they never go away.
They never go away“
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First and foremost, I absolutely adore Whitney Houston. She’s in my opinion the very best female singer of all time. Her voice has a grand, almost heavenly quality and her songs are a terrific mix of fun, catchy tunes and meaningful, beautiful ballads.
Naturally, I liked this documentary as it is about her, but I loved it for its overall quality which is very high. Certainly it has its flaws such as an over-reliance on her personal life and I definitely wanted more emphasis on her career as well. That was problematic for sure. But other than that, the movie is great as it still showcases her importance to the black community and the overall world, especially the music industry.
The flick greatly showcases how troublesome her life was as it consisted of such amazing highs and such horrible lows. There were some interesting mysteries to be had here such as her potential lesbian romance as well as possibly her being abused by a female cousin. But witnessing how she was treated by Bobby Brown, how he destroyed her life by introducing her to drugs and her eventual death was simply heartbreaking.
I already knew most of these things, but watching it on film was even more tragic and I strongly empathized with her and was so moved by the end of it. The emotion is strongly conveyed and the interviews all are highly successful with the best interviewees being her mother and especially her very caring brother.
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Whitney is also technically terrific. I liked those interviews, but also the videos from her life and career were quite powerful, though a bit underused. The direction from Kevin Macdonald is excellent and the film is simply fantastic when it comes to how tight it is as a package as the editing is deft, the pace is excellent and thus the movie is involving and even riveting which is no small feat for a very long, two-hour documentary. It’s truly one of the finest documentaries of the year.
Whitney is a heartbreaking documentary which follows the tragic life of one of the greatest singers of all time through a series of heartwarming interviews and great footage. The movie is a very emotional experience, but particularly exceptional in its deft editing and pacing. It is involving and even riveting throughout which is certainly no small feat for a two-hour documentary.
