Most contemporary music documentaries follow a pretty tight formula, offering viewers otherwise-unattainable, front-row seats both onstage and off. The sight of an icon experiencing spontaneous human emotions — elation, heartbreak, insecurity — is so unexpected, it leaves fans feeling as though they finally understand the person behind the persona.
Prime Video’s “I Am: Celine Dion” reverses this formula to some degree, out of tragic necessity. Céline Dion announced two years ago that she’d been struck by a very rare neurological disease called stiff-person syndrome, which has made it all but impossible for her to continue performing. So what’s seen, mostly, is Dion talking.