Respect

Recently I saw a great TV series, Genius: Aretha Franklin, which offered the width and breadth of Aretha Franklin, showing the myriad experiences that made her who she became.

The Genius series was ambitious with its shifting time and harsh moments, but Respect is a more traditional biopic, with many of the edges sanded off. It's not that there aren't good moments - Aretha creating in the studio or putting on a fabulous show can be electrifying - it's just that those moments aren't used to build anything. Genius suggested that Aretha's life was worth telling because she was interesting, Respect tells you Aretha's life is worth telling because, well, she's famous, and people like to learn about famous people.

Jennifer Hudson is excellent. Respect makes you wish you could go back in time and see Aretha in concert in a way Genius didn't. But in the end there's a "so what" quality to the endeavor.

"RESPECT" (2021 release; 145 min.) is the latest bio-pic about Aretha Franklin. You may recall that earlier this year there was the 8 part TV mini-series "Genius: Aretha" which premiered in March, 2021, and while it wasn't bad, neither did it feel like it did full justice to the genius of Aretha. By then it was already well-known that a new bio-pic was being made starring none other than Oscar-winning Jennifer Hudson. In fact, in the last few years before passing away in 2018, Aretha herself had dared/blessed/encouraged Jennifer to play her. As the movie opens, we are introduced to 10 yr. Old Aretha, who is woken at night by her daddy to sing for a group of (mostly church) friends her parents are hosting for dinner. Aretha brings down the house, and before you know it, she is performing at church. In a clever montage, she starts singing "There Is A Fountain Filled With Blood", and young Aretha segues into adult Aretha....

Couple of comments: this movie is the feature debut for director Liels Tommy. She is best known for her work on Broadway. Here she makes the jump to the big screen, with a large production budget and an all-star cast fronted by Jennifer Hudson. The movie is quite good, although a bit slow at times. But the real reason for watching this is of course Jennifer Hudson, who brings a stunning performance. She really IS Aretha Franklin. As a consequence, even though the movie is not without flaws, "RESPECT" has now become the definitive Aretha Franklin biopic, period. I am already going on record that not only Jennifer Hudson will get a Best Actress Oscar nomination, but that she likely will be one of the, if not THE, frontrunner for that race.

As a complete aside, there is the original soundtrack of this movie, featuring Jennifer singing all those Aretha classics. Without the visuals of the movie, the soundtrack isn't nearly as compelling. But wait, there is a solution: in late July, a career-spanning and generous 4 CD box set (81 tracks; 310 min.) simply called "ARETHA" was released. Just like "RESPECT" is now the definitive Aretha Franklin biopic, "ARETHA" became the immediate, ultimate and definitive CD compilation. Bottom line: both "RESPECT" (the film) and "ARETHA" (the CD box) are a winner!

This is a biopic of legendary performer Aretha Franklin (Jennifer Hudson). Forest Whitaker plays her preacher father C. L. Franklin. Marlon Wayans plays his troublesome husband Ted White.

In the DVD extras, someone claims that this is not a standard cradle to grave biopic. In many ways, this is exactly that. It starts with Aretha as a child and goes to Aretha passing in real life. There is no doubt that Jennifer Hudson has all tools. She's not just a five tool player. She's an all tools player. The question is the very straight forward story telling. This seems to be a story begging to zero in on her 'demon'. A bit of imagination could turn that demon into a surreal character which first hounds her father, then her rapists, her husband, her alcoholism, and even MLK's murder. It's a suggestion. In an aside, the church finale should consists of the real Aretha footage. Again, this seems to be begging for that but maybe they didn't have the copyright. Director Liesl Tommy does transition to the aged Aretha singing Natural Woman which is really a second choice for me. This is a safe biopic starting with the very capable Hudson and the standard story telling.

Jennifer Hudson is an excellent actress, and I always thought she would be a great choice to portray Aretha Franklin. It would be no easy task to fully portray Franklin's legacy on screen in an authentic manner, but after having seen the film early at a Fandango advance screening, I'm happy to say that she succeeded. Hudson's acting range is potent and profound. She is able to clearly convey passion, empathy, and emotional challenges where appropriate in the film's narrative. The film attempts to provide a comprehensive overview of most of Franklin's life, from her challenging early childhood until the 1970s, but primarily focuses on the mid-to-late 60s and early 70s. Its narrative structure is a bit choppy and awkwardly paced, although it should be noted that (to state the obvious) no individual's life depicted in a biopic can fit completely neatly into the conventional three-act Hollywood film structure.

To state the obvious, Hudson's leading performance is the true crown jewel of the film. The film does a great job at humanizing Aretha Franklin, while still showing her emotional and substance-related struggles in a realistic way. Supporting performances in the film are quite strong as well. Particularly notable are Forest Whitaker giving a commanding and powerful performance as Franklin's father, and Marlon Wayans portraying her violent, self-centered husband. Hudson's singing voice is great as well, and her performances of songs such as "Respect," "You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman," and "Amazing Grace" are superb. Despite the exceptional acting talent on display in the film, "Respect" sometimes waddles a bit too much in formulaic and conventional tropes of biopics. The film sometimes comes off as playing it a bit too safe, and shies away from taking any noteworthy creative risks that could have had greater stakes or emotional impact within the context of the viewing experience. At about 2.5 hours, it runs a bit too long, and there's definitely about 30 minutes worth of scenes in here that do not add much to the overall narrative and could easily have been cut. That said, an awards-worthy lead performance makes the film generally a solid one. Recommended. 7/10.

LIKES:

The Setting: A biography movie is all about immersing you in the experience and that involves making sure the setting is a window into the past. Respect accomplishes this beautiful, passing the decades not only in the houses that our heroine dwells, but in the city, culture, and style of our country's history. The revolving door of change is beautifully accompanied with fluid transitions, and a scenery that welcomes the drama and music and gives you an integrative touch that you sometimes don't realize you need

Documenting the Process: When you hear the stars talk about how hard it was to make their songs, do you ever wonder what inspiration and work went into the track? Respect copies what many movies do and gives you that look into the window of their creativity, showing you how Franklin's hits started to arise from motivational pieces that came before it. Seeing the stress behind it, the sources of her inspiration, and in particular the band dynamics that start to raise the music was my favorite part of the story and much like Bohemian Rhapsody I wanted to see more into her amazing musical mind.

The Dives Into Her Demons: Assuming there is some sense of truth in the movie, the personal life of Ms. Franklin was a much darker place than I realized. The movie does well to show the history of what led to her personal challenges, and why she made some of the choices that in this day and age would give many pause. Her early life is beautifully built in the forefront of the movie, and interwoven at key moments to fill those pieces of the puzzle. The early start of her career shows other afflictions and hinderances and what she went through this ordeal in both professional and personal. Then once the career starts, the dial goes up gradually to twelve, each notch increasing in a decent pace and really dropping you into each moment of the Queen of Soul's journey and that oomph helps you really get pulled into her music even further. Many of these moments felt very well needed, and I liked the dynamic and utilization of most characters to show just how included they were in her life.

The Musical Numbers: A musical bio needs the songs that made them famous to show off the talents of the artist. Respect has the numbers ready to go, and much like Rocket man in different venues to help give a little variety and looks at each facet of the presentation process. A studio number in one moment, becomes an apartment session in another, many finding the optimum moment to show the messages and impact that performance brought. It's a subtle story telling that adds another layer to the movie and many are the full performances, at least to start, which is a plus for me. Those costumes and setting pieces I talked about earlier are magnified in these moments and in a sense also amplifies the fun you'll have with this film as well.

The Acting: Ms. Franklin's lives was filled with a lot of people helping her through the battlefield she faced on multiple levels. Many members were integrated super well, and the cast did a brilliant job hitting each role to a T. Whitaker is still as incredible as he was in films like the Butler, playing her father and all the conservative principles he brought. His impact in her life was very loaded, and Whittaker captures all the attitudes, mannerisms, and passion that such a father represents. A job well done for his ability to accomplish this and how well he mixed with the rest of the group. McDonald hit her roles well when she was on screen, the elegance captured well in her postural presentation, while her more inspirational moments hold such emotion. Yet the star of the show is of course Hudson herself and the wonderful performance she gave in this film. While there are some notable differences between Franklin and her tone, Hudson studied much of the attitude, energy and air that the legend once held. She hits the song notes to a T, has the emotional fervor in those notes of raw passion and troubles, and even has the stage presence we saw in Franklin's recorded numbers. Off stage, her acting for the drama components has some bite to them as well, and shows an entirely different spectrum of skills that Hudson holds in her bag of skills. An Oscar worthy performance for sure, this is probably one of the biggest selling points of the film for me.

DISLIKES: Some facets of the story Incomplete: In the time span they showed the movie, I give them props for how much they got in on the life of Ms. Franklin. However, several of the stories were more like teasers, just enough to give you the impact and consequences, but also left bland and feeling hastily tied up. The dynamics with several of the characters, the fallout from several choices made, and even seeing more of her time in the Civil Rights were only hinted and given her contributions I would have liked to see more of these components.

The Pacing Inconsistency: Biographies are tricky to get the life and every moment just right, and still get the numbers in as well. Respect starts out so well, building into the moment and adding just enough song interruptions to keep you baited. Once the career starts the musical numbers start to appear a little more frequently, but still in a balanced manner that kept entertainment and drama in a nice dance of quality. Then the ending happens and that's when the momentum is interrupted and the balance is lost for me. Focusing more on the drama and build up to her legendary performance, the pace of the film suddenly drags, and I felt the movie starting to slug through instead of keeping that fun pace. As impacting as it was, I always find myself a bit more bored during the low points, just because of how much I miss the music piece of it. Thus, after such a moving and dynamic middle, to hit this sluggish end took points off for me.

Music Numbers Not Quite The spectacle: Bohemian Rhapsody and Jersey Boys showed us how one can recreate the numbers that had people's toes tapping and minds blown. Complete tracks with amazing choreography and the spectacle that made me feel like I had traveled back in time. And Respect starts to do this, and again some of those numbers are perfect for getting lost in the moment. Yet, the numbers are not quite as entertaining or coordinated and several ended a bit too abruptly when they were getting started. I would have liked to see more of her work presented in that full spectacle and really give the Queen's work the full respect it deserved.

Real Vs. Overdramatic?

Always something to try and decipher, the tale of Ms. Franklin is indeed one with a lot of questions regarding the true details that led to her life. Was the manager as bad as he was looked at? Did her father really have such a tight control to be the monster seen in the movie? Was the first label really that boring and limiting? Did she really have that many "adventures" to result in such a broken family? I don't know, but depending on your knowledge of her career, you might be wondering how much was amplified by Hollywood to get a spectacle.

The verdict: Respect is indeed an emotional roller coaster when it comes to the musical biography genre. It's got heart, history, and drama that is rich in culture and a portrayal of the Queen of Soul's journey to legendary status. Being pulled into each decade of life, getting all the facets and seeing those struggles present itself in so much variety gave a more complete picture that at first moved so well. With a fantastic actress to lead the cast that puts as much soul into the role as Ms. Franklin put into her music. The numbers as well really help add spirit to the movie and at times held just as much punch as the drama moments itself. Yet Respect suffers from pace inconsistency, leaving stories in the shallow end and some of the musical numbers incomplete. So much potential sort of lost in the timing, and maybe with a little more planning and pizazz the full effect could have been brought to light. Much like you have read before, the movie almost needed to be a miniseries, docuseries, or some extension, because more time would have given a wider spread to enjoy the life of the legend. My scores for this film are below, and my recommendation is to give this one a shot, but perhaps at home instead of the theater:

Biography/Drama/Music: 7.0 Movie Overall: 6.0.