Whitney: Can I Be Me
Showtime Networks | Release Date: August 18, 2017 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
64
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 15 Critic Reviews
Positive:
8
Mixed:
6
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
83
IndieWireJude DryApr 29, 2017
The film’s main triumph is in crafting a convincing narrative with a clear point of view. Read full review
80
Village VoiceMelissa AndersonAug 15, 2017
We’re fortunate to witness such impassioned consideration of Houston’s art, career, and life from the people who actually knew her. Still, it’s notable that Crawford isn’t interviewed here. Read full review
80
VarietyOwen GleibermanApr 29, 2017
It just has a story to tell, and it does that incredibly compellingly. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard Roeper
For all the beautiful and lovely music Whitney Houston gave us, for all those soaring notes she hit, the documentary Whitney. Can I Be Me is a nearly joyless and melancholy piece of work. Because we know how it ends. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)Jen ChaneyAug 18, 2017
As is often the case in documentaries like this, absorbing all those details as part of one, tightly edited story gives them an impact they lack when digested in individual pieces over time. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranAug 17, 2017
"Whitney's" story makes for strong and compelling viewing even though it has something of a cobbled together feel to it. Read full review
70
The New York TimesBen KenigsbergAug 17, 2017
A surprisingly conventional, dutifully respectful behind-the-scenes portrait of Whitney Houston’s rise and struggles with fame and drugs before her death at 48. Read full review
70
Screen DailyFionnuala HalliganApr 29, 2017
Whitney Can I Be Me delivers yet another tragic lesson in the toxic mix of fame and talent and children: it should be required viewing for all those who seek to follow this diva’s path to fame and fortune. Read full review
60
The TelegraphStaff (Not Credited)Sep 3, 2017
Parts of it tingle with a creepy, curtain-parting intimacy. Read full review
60
CineVueBen NicholsonJun 27, 2017
A compelling re-telling of the singer's story. Read full review
60
EmpireHelen O'HaraJun 12, 2017
An informative but incomplete look at Whitney Houston’s life and death, this will frustrate fans as much as it fascinates them. Read full review
60
Time Out LondonMatilda Egere-CooperJun 12, 2017
At least there’s plenty from Whitney herself in incredibly poignant TV interviews where she talks about her struggles with fame and addiction. Read full review
60
Village VoiceRen JenderApr 29, 2017
The film doesn’t use enough of Houston’s music. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterStephen DaltonApr 29, 2017
We are left with a powerful sense that her death was a tragic loss, both privately and publicly, but Can I Be Me never quite tells us why. Read full review
38
Slant MagazineEric HendersonAug 18, 2017
It's no surprise that Nick Broomfield finds little use for the moments of unabashed triumphalism in Houston's life, as he's doggedly fixated on the humiliating swan dive. Read full review
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