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Whitney

  • TV Movie
  • 2015
  • TV-14
  • 1h 28m
IMDb RATING
5.0/10
2.1K
YOUR RATING
Yaya DaCosta in Whitney (2015)
BiographyDrama

A chronicle of Whitney Houston's rise to fame and turbulent relationship with husband Bobby Brown.A chronicle of Whitney Houston's rise to fame and turbulent relationship with husband Bobby Brown.A chronicle of Whitney Houston's rise to fame and turbulent relationship with husband Bobby Brown.

  • Director
    • Angela Bassett
  • Writer
    • Shem Bitterman
  • Stars
    • Yaya DaCosta
    • Arlen Escarpeta
    • Yolonda Ross
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    5.0/10
    2.1K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Angela Bassett
    • Writer
      • Shem Bitterman
    • Stars
      • Yaya DaCosta
      • Arlen Escarpeta
      • Yolonda Ross
    • 27User reviews
    • 13Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 1 win & 7 nominations total

    Photos28

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    Top cast82

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    Yaya DaCosta
    Yaya DaCosta
    • Whitney Houston
    Arlen Escarpeta
    Arlen Escarpeta
    • Bobby Brown
    Yolonda Ross
    Yolonda Ross
    • Robyn Crawford
    Suzzanne Douglas
    Suzzanne Douglas
    • Cissy Houston
    Mark Rolston
    Mark Rolston
    • Clive Davis
    Wesley Jonathan
    Wesley Jonathan
    • Babyface
    Hampton Fluker
    Hampton Fluker
    • Steve
    Reign Morton
    Reign Morton
    • Eddie Murphy
    James A. Watson Jr.
    James A. Watson Jr.
    • John Houston
    Kevontay Jackson
    Kevontay Jackson
    • Gangbanger
    Noree Victoria
    Noree Victoria
    • Sheryl
    Nafessa Williams
    Nafessa Williams
    • Kim
    Billy 'Sly' Williams
    Billy 'Sly' Williams
    • Pastor Marvin Winans
    Saundra McClain
    Saundra McClain
    • Aunt Bae
    Deborah Lacey
    Deborah Lacey
    • Award Presentor
    James Roch
    James Roch
    • Reporter
    • (as JR Lemon)
    Cornelius Smith Jr.
    Cornelius Smith Jr.
    • Michael Houston
    Deborah Joy Winans
    Deborah Joy Winans
    • Cece
    • Director
      • Angela Bassett
    • Writer
      • Shem Bitterman
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews27

    5.02.1K
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    Featured reviews

    6dawnedwards-97622

    The movie was too 1- sided...

    I know this is a late review, as i see that this movie aired a few years ago, I actually liked the movie as far as entertainment purposes. It does seem according to this bi-opic, Whitney was already heavy into drug use. Bobbie Brown was completely innocent of any wrong doing...smh Umm yeah right! Did Bobbie have anything to do with the production of this movie? He comes out smelling like a rose and looking like a dutiful husband. Whitney had an amazing talent that very few are ever close to being born with. Bobbie Brown however he came to be, was nowhere close to her range. I never did get the attraction as far as talent was concerned. I feel like he was a huge part of her demise. Bobbie rode her coattails to popularity and stardom. I was truly saddened by her downfall and her untimely death. Truly a sad ending indeed. Not to mention the death of her young daughter following right after hers. With that all said and done, I thought that the young, beautiful newcomer Yaya Decosta did a phenomenal job portraying larger than life Whitney, especially the onstage performances. She captured her pretty well. If she keeps it up, I am sure we will see a lot more of her in the future...
    1bobret

    Just read Whitney's wikipedia page!

    This film was so superficial it seems they adapted it from her wikipedia article!!
    4niseynisey

    LIES!

    A bunch of lies told by Bobby Brown. YaYa did a great job at the lipsynching though!
    1nicholls_les

    Awful in every way

    Yaya DaCosta as Whitney Houston? Could they have cast an Actress who looked less like Whitney? I have seen tribute acts that looked much more like her and if only for this reason I found this movie unwatchable.

    When you compare this to the excellent movie 'Ray' where Jamie Foxx looked and acted so much like Ray Charles that you forgot it wasn't Ray Charles. Yaya DaCosta looks and acts nothing like Whitney Houston.

    But it was also bad in every other way.

    The glossing over the real story of her life. The way they used another singer to sing (or try to sing) some of Whitney's great songs. The way they tried to make Bobby Brown look so sweet and innocent which no one can possibly believe.

    Angela Bassett should hang her head in shame for directing this travesty of a movie. I just hope someone produces a better movie sometime in the future.
    2ClassicActresses

    Terrible

    I have a always been a fan of Lifetime's low budget biopics - they aren't meant to be great - but this movie about Whitney Houston was just awful. The actress playing Whitney gave a really bad performance - her crying scene after she had a miscarriage was laughable. The writers of this movie expect us to believe that Bobby Brown was some innocent victim who doesn't use cocaine and turns down groupies. Meanwhile Whitney is portrayed as an insecure party girl who goes crazy on drugs. They also chose to ignore the stories about Whitney's lesbian romance with her assistant Robin. Besides the bad writing and acting the real problem was there were way too many full length musical numbers. How can you make a movie about a legendary singer like Whitney Houston and then use someone another woman's voice.

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    Related interests

    Ben Kingsley, Rohini Hattangadi, and Geraldine James in Gandhi (1982)
    Biography
    Mahershala Ali and Alex R. Hibbert in Moonlight (2016)
    Drama

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Whitney Houston's daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown expressed interest in portraying her mother in a biopic. When asked in an interview with "Entertainment Weekly" whether director Angela Bassett considered casting Brown she said: "No, I did not think about that. I did not think about casting her. And probably for a number of reasons, you know. One being that she's not an actress. I know she's acted here and there. I know she's been on their family's reality show, but she's not an actress and acting is a craft."
    • Goofs
      At the beginning, when Whitney and Bobby are shopping on Rodeo Drive, logos for Moncler and Tom Ford are visible in the background. Neither store would have been established enough to have a store on Rodeo Drive.
    • Quotes

      Bobby Brown: [to Whitney] I love you too much.

    • Connections
      References Shaft (1971)
    • Soundtracks
      Wedding March
      Composed by Felix Mendelssohn

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • January 17, 2015 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Official site
      • Lifetime (United States)
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Whitney Houston: A Tragic Love
    • Filming locations
      • Santa Clarita, California, USA
    • Production companies
      • Sanitsky Company
      • SilverScreen Pictures
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 28m(88 min)
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Stereo
    • Aspect ratio
      • 16:9 HD

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