Whitney HoustonB次元官网网址檚 voice was one of a kind and the of the singer had no choice but to agree.

Naomi Ackie, who plays Houston in turns in a fierce performance but is asked to lip-sync throughout to Houston biggest hits. The effect is, at best, an expensive karaoke session.

The dilemma that HoustonB次元官网网址檚 own prodigious gift put everyone in is understandable: The chances of finding someone who resembles the singer is hard enough; finding someone who also has the awe-inducing, fluttery vocal ability is a foolB次元官网网址檚 errand.

But the solution would have been choosing between focusing on HoustonB次元官网网址檚 story or making a documentary that features her singing. ItB次元官网网址檚 unfair to ask Ackie to act her heart out and also have her execute large parts of HoustonB次元官网网址檚 iconic live performances in mimic mode. ItB次元官网网址檚 an uncanny canyon.

The movie is written by Anthony McCarten, who told Freddie MercuryB次元官网网址檚 story in B次元官网网址淏ohemian RhapsodyB次元官网网址� and is having quite a moment with two shows on Broadway B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淭he CollaborationB次元官网网址� about artists Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat a musical about Neil Diamond. McCarten clearly has impressed producers with an ability to tell the stories of modern icons but with Houston the hook is, well, business pressure.

B次元官网网址淚 Wanna Dance With SomebodyB次元官网网址� is more like a hyped-up B次元官网网址淏ehind the MusicB次元官网网址� episode set to HoustonB次元官网网址檚 greatest hits album. It leans on all the cliches: overbearing parents, bad-boy boyfriends and giddy, champagne-popping montages on the way up and sullen montages on the way down as sheB次元官网网址檚 hunted by paparazzi.

Houston is portrayed as a woman who seizes her destiny only late in her cut-short life after struggling with the burden of being the family breadwinner for most of it.

B次元官网网址淓veryone is using me as an ATM!B次元官网网址� she screams at one point.

Stanley Tucci plays a subdued and concerned Clive Davis B次元官网网址� the record executive helped produce the film and comes off like a prince B次元官网网址� and Nafessa Williams is superb as HoustonB次元官网网址檚 best friend, manager and lover.

McCarten frames the climax of HoustonB次元官网网址檚 life at the 1994 American Music Awards, where she won eight awards and performed a medley of songs. It is where camera starts and ends, part of an excruciating final section goodbye to the icon that lasts for what feels like an hour and ends with a heavy-handed, written statement that Houston was the B次元官网网址済reatest voice of her generation.B次元官网网址�

Credit to the Houston estate for not sanitizing HoustonB次元官网网址檚 life, showing her early love affair with a woman, her pushy, demanding parents, the backlash from some in the Black community and not shying away from the descent into drugs that

B次元官网网址淭o sing with the gods, you sometimes need a ladder,B次元官网网址� Houston rationalizes in the movie.

Some highlights of the film include Houston and Davis picking hit songs in his office and the recreations of the filming of the video B次元官网网址淗ow Will I KnowB次元官网网址� and HoustonB次元官网网址檚 triumphant national anthem performance at Super Bowl XXV. Costume designer Charlese Antoinette Jones has joyously remade key looks, from HoustonB次元官网网址檚 hair bow and arm warmers to the stunning wedding dress with beaded and sequined cloche hat.

Less well-realized is the section exploring her filming of B次元官网网址淭he BodyguardB次元官网网址� B次元官网网址� the filmmakers try to pass off an old clip of Kevin Costner on the set, a trick they try again later with Oprah B次元官网网址� and the portrayal of husband Bobby Brown is not nuanced, leaving him the clear villain of the piece. Lemmons (B次元官网网址淗arrietB次元官网网址�) also uses a recurring image of a faucet dripping, a graceless way of foreshadowing her death.

AckieB次元官网网址檚 performance is something to be cheered, reaching for the the kind of authenticity that Andra Day channeled when she also tackled a doomed musical icon in

But so much clumsiness, scenes featuring unnaturally heightened drama with little insight and the compromised authenticity of the performances drag B次元官网网址淚 Wanna Dance With SomebodyB次元官网网址� down B次元官网网址� ultimately, itB次元官网网址檚 not right but itB次元官网网址檚 just OK.

B次元官网网址淚 Wanna Dance With Somebody,B次元官网网址� a Sony Pictures release exclusively in theaters Dec. 23, is rated PG-13 for B次元官网网址渟trong drug content, some strong language, suggestive references and smoking.B次元官网网址� Running time: 146 minutes. Two stars out of four.

MPAA Definition of PG-13: Parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

B次元官网网址擬ark Kennedy, The Associated Press