Whitney Houston gambles on the big screen

Date: November 25, 1992
By David Hinckley

From New York Daily News
Submitted by: Larry A.


Hollywood likes to serve rich food for the holidays, and this year's main course for Thanksgiving Eve will be Whitney Houston, making her film debut in The Bodyguard.

It's a measure of Ms. Houston's magnetism that in pre-release discussion of the movie, which the studio is billing as a romantic thriller, she has had as much as or more attention than co-star Kevin Costner, who has racked up a few screen credits and magazine covers of his own over the last few years.

The movie itself even helps keep the spotlight on Ms. Houston. Because Mr. Costner plays the titular role, a near-robotic pro who is obsessed with self-control and considers emotion a sign of weakness, Ms. Houston's character (a pop diva/movie superstar -- what a stretch) is the one who gets to use the whole box of crayons.

This is not to suggest that Ms. Houston's task is simple. Whereas her singing career came as close as humanly possible to a preordained success, thanks to a wise mother (Cissy Houston) and an experienced record-label president (Clive Davis), a movie career involves a much bigger gamble.

Although the grade for her performance will likely vary from critic to critic, Ms. Houston has minimized the risks of bombing in The Bodyguard by adding several musical interludes (some of which are voice-overs, including the current No. 1 single I Will Always Love You, written by Dolly Parton).

And no one can argue with Ms. Houston's musical credentials. She sang in her mother's church and nightclub act before Whitney's self-titled solo debut (1985) made her rich and famous. She had seven consecutive No. 1s between 1985 and 1988. She has sung an Olympic theme (One Moment in Time) and put The Star-Spangled Banner on the pop charts.

Ms. Houston's screen qualifications are limited to work as a model and the occasional video of one of her hit tunes. Nevertheless, she is one of the best-looking people on the planet, a fact that The Bodyguard exploits (doubtless, with Ms. Houston's cooperation).

The rest of the story: She's resting at home during her pregnancy (she married pop idol Bobby Brown last summer). She says she wants to keep making movies and singing. She has a multimillion-dollar deal to sing in Atlantic City.

So even though her career won't nose-dive if The Bodyguard does, Ms. Houston's crossover bid brings to mind similar attempts at motion-picture fame by a number of other female pop stars. The story runs generally the same: After gaining success as recording artists, suddenly these divas are up onscreen, with everything from their looks to their tiniest speaking inflection blown up to many times life-size. People like it. Or they don't.

Still, the rewards for success on screen are so great that many, maybe most, successful female singers are eventually persuaded to go for it.