Beauty

Lena Waite TV/Movie projects are usually well constructed with exceptional direction, timing and great dialogue but this movie takes the viewer into several sporadic directions down a rabbit hole.

This was a total waste of time! I guess the reason that I watched was because it had Niecy Nash Sharon stone and Giancarlo Esposito. The story line was hella weak and the cinematography was awful.

AND WHY DID SHE NEVER SING??? I.

This really could have been the definitive "Whitney Houston" movie, but sadly it only focuses on one tiny aspect of the singer's life. The estate is still very protective of Whitney's image so I understand the difficulty in bringing the true story to screen. All that said, this film does a great job telling an unauthorized fictional version. Good writing, good cast, production design, and direction. It actually covers a good portion of her family dynamic considering the short time allotted. However, It's a terrible shame that we couldn't get any music whatsoever from the popstar. Not even a soundtrack of original music. For a movie about an amazing singer, she should have sang at least one song. Terrible. Because of that, it suffers from a lack of energy and therefore the picture isn't balanced. It's just kind of one note which really sucks because this could have been an amazing biopic. Authorized or not. But what we get is a fine family drama with loose ends.

This wasn't a biopic in the traditional sense of such stories. If you are looking at it from that genre, you will be very disappointed. I think the writer and production were trying to focus on the story of a talent going into the entertainment business and the changes for her, her family, and friends. Yes, it is very familiar to a life story we know well, but it is not about the talent, the voice, or the legend. We already know that part well. But what about the struggles that person faces with impending notoriety (i.e. R&b v. Pop star, traditional "good" church girl v. Alternative lifestyle, well-spoken v. Urban). The acting was good with what the actors had to work with. Photography was excellent. However, the plot and characters needed to be fill out more. And, the pacing was off in the build up to the end of one era for the singer and moving on to the next. I loved the interspersed video of singing legends, which more than made up for any musical accompaniment from the actors.

Anyone who says this isn't a Whitney esq bio clearly is unaware of the Whitney story out of the mainstream. It feels like Lena was trying to attempt a quentin tarantino thing ... like he did with Once upon a time in Hollywood, giving us a truthful story with a fictional twist.

I can also understand a viewers aversion to the no singing approach. Which again was a stylistic choice, in a way to show us other singers and the culture of the time and how that in tow was her voice. The influences.

And the direction has a theatrical theme but never goes deep enough into the characters to ever engage with them, feel them and therefor care for them.

But what I struggled with most is... how is this from the same writer that gave us Queen and Slim!!!!!