We're anticipating the premiere of the Lifetime biopic Whitney, which is set to focus on the often tumultuous relationship between superstars Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown, even if we're still giving it a very skeptical side-eye. A recent clip released from the film, featuring the film's star Yaya DaCosta (and the voice of Deborah Cox) recording Whitney's 1990 classic "I'm Your Baby Tonight," had calmed our nerves about the production a tad bit. But now Lifetime has released a clip of what is arguably Whitney's signature song, "I Will Always Love You," for audiences to judge before the movie hits television screens this weekend.
While nobody — and we mean nobody — can sing this the way that Whitney did, we have to give kudos to Deborah's take, which hews damn close to many of Nippy's live takes of the song. However, the biggest problem here is unfortunately Yaya. While the former America's Next Top Model contestant has proven time and time again that she can hold her own acting on both the big and small screens, the overacting here is a bit tiring to watch. Yes, Whitney was known to go all in during performances, but this is just overwrought and way over the top.
Still, with Angela Bassett in the director's seat, Deborah holding it down on vocals and Yaya hopefully showing a tad bit more restraint in the rest of the film, Whitney should turn out to be must-see TV when it airs this Saturday, January 17th, at 8 p.m. ET.
