Movie Review - Whitney (2018)

Kevin Macdonald is an Oscar-winning, documentary filmmaker who took home gold for his film One Day in September (1999). His movies have tackled a diversity of subjects and topics. Six years ago, he did a profile on the musician Bob Marley simply called Marley (2012). The Scottish director again tackles the life and times of a black musician who died at a relatively young age and who is also considered one of the best-selling artists of all-time.

So many documentaries about music and musicians have been made that at this point it's become its own genre. Every major, successful or influential musician has or will get a doc about them. If there's a musician with a weird or quirky story, he or she will get a doc about them. Obviously, if you're a person who enjoys that particular musician's work, that would draw interest, but after seeing so many in this genre, one wants a doc that will stand-out beyond the typical template, established in the genre and in programs like VH1's Behind the Music. Unfortunately, I don't think this film stands out beyond that template.

This would be fine, if within the documentary, there were some kind of stylistic flourish that made it compelling to watch on a cinematic level or if there were some kind of revelation or secret exposed about the subject that perhaps wasn't known or wasn't fully explored in the news or some other venue. Macdonald has some flourishes in terms of certain edited sequences in this film. In terms of revelations, this doc comes in the wake of another about Houston. Whitney: Can I Be Me is a British film that played on the Showtime network last year and basically covers the same ground as this film, so unfortunately, this movie is basically a rehash.

Macdonald shows us his flourish immediately. He has some montages that are pretty spectacular. His preference is to take a Houston song and intercut images from the 1960's to 80's, both cultural touchstones and shocking horrors like the 1967 Newark riots to which Houston bore witness. Many of the images are taken from news footage and whatever was on TV in that time. Macdonald edits all the images together rapidly and jarringly, juxtaposing the different emotions invoked by each in order to underline them. It puts the songs obviously in a context that most would not assume and would find possibly disturbing, which is perhaps to emphasize the disturbing undercurrent that ran through Houston's life and behind her music.

If that Showtime doc hadn't trumped this one, the revelations or rumors about Houston's sexuality or at least her relationship with a lesbian might have been shocking. Houston's drug addictions certainly aren't shocking. To anyone old enough to remember, it was a much talked about subject in the press in the early 2000's. Even if one isn't old enough to remember, so many musicians and entertainers have died due to drug overdoses that it's almost unusual for someone in the spotlight not to have an addiction or have been to rehab at some point.

I'm not sure if this subject was explored in the Showtime doc, but what was shocking was the allegation that Houston was molested. The person allegedly culpable is even named. The repercussions of that abuse is even believed to have caused issues between Houston and her own daughter who would eventually suffer nearly the same fate as her mother. However, there are several things that are problematic in this particular revelation.

Houston's drug abuse is put into context that it was something to which her brothers exposed her and even allegedly Bobby Brown, her ex-husband, exposed her to it as well. Macdonald though never puts that drug use into a broader context, indicating how rampant it was in the community where Houston was raised or even in Hollywood at large. Macdonald, however, misses a huge connection toward the end here. Houston took refuge with Michael Jackson after her drug addiction was exposed in the early 2000's. Macdonald then starts on her molestation claims. It's weird that the movie never makes the connection that Jackson himself was accused of sexual molestation. He was acquitted of the charges, but something that big seemed worth mentioning.

That's negligible though. What's truly egregious is a comment by Mary Jones, a distant relative and employee of Houston. Jones says that Houston's possible sexual abuse led to her sexual preference or caused her to question her sexuality. Without delving into the nuances that sexual abuse or that kind of trauma can have or what effects it can do to a person, in general, linking molestation or pedophilia to homosexuality or same-sex attraction is offensive and wrong. I wish Macdonald had given a little bit of pushback on that, as well as some other things.

Brown is interviewed and he says something outrageous. He says that drugs aren't what killed Houston. Houston technically drowned, but the toxicology found high levels of cocaine in her system. To allow Brown's statement to pass like that seems ridiculous. If Brown was going to be obtuse or provide no insight, it's weird to even include him in this film. There's also a section where Houston was jeered at an awards show for racial reasons. Macdonald never truly interrogates this, whereas reportedly the Showtime doc did, so ultimately this movie feels insufficient.

Rated R for language and drug content.
Running Time: 2 hrs.

Available on DVD and VOD.