Last night at The Neon Movies I saw WHITNEY, the documentary about the legendary singer, Whitney Houston… powerful… exhilarating… painful… tender… appalling… and a stark reminder of life’s fragility even when one is on top of the world and seemingly strong.

When I left the theater I felt as though I’d been sucker-punched in the stomach.  I was not familiar with the tremendous amount of substance abuse that literally buried this star, nor some of the abuses she endured.  I was quite familiar with her mother, Cissy Houston, and her cousin, Dionne Warick, but there were so many other colorful folks who were a part of her life that were quite interesting.

I, at first, scoffed the idea of this documentary as just another cheap documentary. How wrong I was.

You will be uplifted by her music played throughout the movie, but expect to be pained by the story.