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Whitney

Whitney

Music · Documentary · 2018

Examines the life and career of singer Whitney Houston. Features never-before-seen archival footage, exclusive recordings, rare performances and interviews with the people who knew her best.

Movie details

Whitney

“All the music. All the stories. All the answers.”

2018 Music · Documentary 2h 0m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

7.3 / 10

Community rating

Examines the life and career of singer Whitney Houston. Features never-before-seen archival footage, exclusive recordings, rare performances and interviews with the people who knew her best.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Whitney?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Kevin Macdonald

Written by

Kevin Macdonald

Whitney Houston

Whitney Houston

Self (archive footage)

Bobby Brown

Bobby Brown

Self - Ex-Husband

Cissy Houston

Cissy Houston

Self - Mother

Clive Davis

Clive Davis

Self - Founder, Arista Records

L.A. Reid

L.A. Reid

Self - CEO and President, Arista Records 2000-2004

Kevin Costner

Kevin Costner

Self - Actor

Dionne Warwick

Dionne Warwick

Self - Whitney's Cousin (archive footage)

Court is in session

Put Whitney on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Ambition earns the room.”

The film reaches for consequence and scale, accepting the risk of seriousness instead of shrinking from it.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Importance has entered the chat.”

The production keeps announcing its significance, as though awards-season posture were proof of insight.