10 Most Hell-to-the-Yes Moments in Lifetime’s ‘Whitney’
There’s an excellent reason “Directed by Angela Bassett” is plastered all over the ads for Lifetime’s Whitney Houston biopic — entitled, simply, Whitney — and the reason is Aaliyah. Bassett is the network’s way of saying, “We’re sorry. We promise we won’t screw things up like when we let Wendy Williams do that Aaliyah flick. This one will be all about Quality. This time we’re bringing in an Oscar-nominated Hollywood leading lady who starred in Waiting To Exhale — you remember, the movie where Whitney sang that ‘Shoop Shoop’ song. Give us another chance, America. We promise there will be music and romance. And drugs. Lots of those.”
Whitney tells the Bobby Brown side of the story, rather than her mama Cissy Houston’s side, already detailed in the heartfelt 2013 memoir Remembering Whitney. (Best line: “As much as I love my daughter, Nippy was no angel. She could be a straight-up heifer to people.”) In this version, Bobby is the innocent victim corrupted by Whitney’s party-hearty habits. She’s the one who lures him into drugs, snorting up a storm while he clutches his beer and says, “I’ll stick with this.” Ah, right, sure.
Fans might have an issue or two with the dubious pro-Bobby angle, but Yaya DeCosta makes a likeable heroine. She was a runner-up on Season Three of America’s Top Model, which might explain why she does so much smizing in her version of “I’m Every Woman.” She’s almost too animated to play Whitney — she’s a much better dancer, though you can tell she’s making an effort to hold back. The actual singing is by Deborah Cox, the Nineties R&B diva fondly remembered for “Nobody’s Supposed To Be Here,” which ruled the radio the same winter as Whitney’s “Heartbreak Hotel” and will always reduce me to a puddle of slush.
Bassett or no Bassett, Whitney is still a cheese-intensive Lifetime melodrama, using all the tricks of the trade: a young woman with big dreams, a man who fails her, family disapproval, career pressure, motherhood, lies, tears, long talks with Babyface. Here are the 10 pulpiest — and therefore best — moments. As a great woman once sang: I don’t know why I like it. I just do.
1. Whitney meets Bobby, feels the heat.
First scene: our girl in her limo, en route to the 1989 Soul Train Awards, sighing, “Time to become Whitney Houston.” You can instantly tell this is the kind of low-budget Lifetime movie where they scrounge up a couple dozen extras to play an entire mob of fans swarming the red carpet. Whitney is transfixed by seeing Bobby sing “Every Little Step.” They flirt backstage, joking about how she didn’t win any awards. (“I’m happy for my girl Anita” — sure you are, Whitney). Right before she goes onstage to sing “The Greatest Love of All,” she declares, “As of tonight, I am a Bobby Brown fan!” What could go wrong?
2. Their first date.
Shopping, obviously. “We are in Beverly Hills, baby! Rodeo Drive!” Bobby yells. They get mobbed by fans on the sidewalk — it looks like the same extras from the Soul Train Awards. Time-warp factor: Bobby has to ask if anyone wants a photo with him. Fans were so much more polite back then!