Yaya DaCosta is effervescent as Whitney Houston!

No one will ever know the real truth of Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown.  The movie Whitney, the version offered by Oscar-nominated actress Angela Bassett in her directorial debut, seems to earnestly dig for that truth.  Since Wendy Williams’s Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B biopic, R&B fans did not have much hope for Whitney the movie or Bassett’s success.

In Angela Bassett’s account of the Whitney-Bobby saga, Yaya DaCosta of America’s Next Top Model fame, portrays Whitney Houston.  Newcomer Arlen Escarpeta portrays the enigmatic Bobby Brown.  That the relationship was at times difficult and most of the time complicated is well-documented.  Cigarettes.  Weed.  Cocaine.  Heroin.  Alcohol.  The marriage of two careers.  Miscarriages and cheating—on both their parts.  Baby mama drama.  Stints in jail. Car crashes.  The Diane Sawyer “crack is whack” interview.  And the pièce de resistance: the Oprah “he drew eyes all over the walls” interview.  All beneath the manipulative shadow of two-headed monster, Clive & Cissy. Between Yaya DaCosta and Arlen Escarpeta, there is chemistry.  The acting is good, too.  But whether that chemistry foams to the wild and reckless hella cray-cray abandon the real Whitney and Bobby gave us peeks of, no one knows but Bobby Brown now.

Cissy Houston, as portrayed by Suzanne Douglas in the Lifetime movie, is the firm but subdued version of Cissy that Angela Bassett presents out of love and respect for the late siren.  Whitney Houston fans imagine the real Cissy to be a far worse snake, especially in her venomous dislike for Bobby Brown.

“Whitney was my heart.  If there was anything more that I could do, I would have done it.”  –Bobby Brown, Bobby Brown: Remembering Whitney with Shaun Robinson

Yaya DaCosta looked as if she was having the time of her life lipsyncing Whitney's greatest hits.

The real Cissy, whenever possible, whether out of phoniness or over-protectiveness, held up a princess crown over Whitney’s head in life—and now in death—to the media, no matter how often Whitney herself slapped that burden away.  Aloof white fans might have believed the princessy goody-two-shoes hype.  Black fans never did.  We always suspected that the problems between Cissy and Whitney—as much as we adored the one—stemmed from the fact that the two were more alike than either of them cared to admit.  But that is not to say they did not love each other to . . . uh . . . death, as mothers and daughters do.

The movie was sensational on several levels, good and bad.  The music brought back memories, some made bitter by Whitney’s untimely passing.  Canadian singer-songwriter and actress Debra Cox of “Nobody’s Supposed to Be Here” fame gave her voice and her all to the soundtrack.  She made us feel teary and proud.  She was phenomenal covering Whitney Houston’s hits.  Her great voice reminded us why the world knows Whitney as one of the greatest voices it has ever heard.  (Debra Cox also reminds us how someone with a divine gift can be relatively unknown still when someone like Britney Spears, with lesser vocals, is known and beloved worldwide.)

“Debra Cox, thankfully, obliterated from our memories—if but for a moment—how drugs paralyzed Whitney’s tongue and angelic voice and, ultimately, the singer herself.”

The love scenes were reminiscent of real cable.  Watching the generous, fun-loving side of Whitney Houston and the sweet and humble side of Bobby Brown morph into lust-driven devils between the sheets caused the heart to race and, as a side effect, the belly to giggle.  The cheating scene was Rated F2L for far too lifelike for Lifetime; the thrusting was nearly p0rn0graphik; we felt the shock with Yaya as Whitney as soon as she walked through the door.  The passion for music bleeding into the duo’s lovemaking and their fights made the love and the pain between the fragile lovers palpable.  Robyn Crawford (Yolanda Ross), Whitney Houston’s friend since her teens, may have been included not just to show her support but her loving support—a lesbian relationship subtly implied.

Bobby Brown said no but seemed to know more than he would dare say in public. He has shown himself to be loyal over the years.

Other highlights included actor James A. Watson Jr. as the spitting image of Whitney’s cherished father, John Houston.  There was a glimpse into the mind of music man Clive Davis of Arista Records.  In the movie, Clive Davis (Mark Rolston), donning orange shades, booger-green tie, white shirt, and black suit, did not want to change a winning formula.  Neither did Cissy.  Also, when Baby Face (Wesley Jonathan) told us that Bobby Brown was wild, ambitious, talented, smart, warm, and fundamentally a good person, we believed him.

While Whitney the movie was satisfying, it somehow left you wanting.  Or, at the very least, wondering if there was more.  Some less familiar juicy secret crazy.  And yet, the two-hour ride with one of R&B’s original Bonnie & Clydes was gripping.  After Ike & Tina, Rick James & Teena Marie, we will always remember—and love—Whitney and Bobby.

For not sniffing into more than any of our noses could take (but maybe playing it too many ounces too safe), nice job, Angela Bassett!  You, too, writer Shem Bitterman!