Following the rise of Aretha Franklin's
career -- from a child singing in her father's church choir to her
international superstardom -- it's the remarkable true story of the music
icon's journey to find her voice.
Director: Liesl Tommy
Cast: Jennifer Hudson, Forest Whitaker, Marlon Wayans, Audra McDonald, Marc Maron, Tituss Burgess,
Saycon Sengbloh, Hailey Kilgore, Skye Dakota Turner, Tate Donovan, Mary J.
Blige
Release Date: August 13, 2021
Genre: Biography, Drama, Music
Rated PG-13 for mature thematic content,
strong language including racial epithets, violence, suggestive material, and
smoking
Runtime: 2h 25min
Review:
Aretha Franklin was a seminal star whose
impact on the musical world still reverberates through the musical world. Unfortunately, Liesl Tommy’s biopic is a
paint by the numbers affair that plays more like a high end Lifetime film with
better actors. The film’s structure is a
painfully predictable with melodramatic moments that will make most have
flashback of Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story.
The film’s saving grace is it’s cast with Jennifer Hudson leading the
way with her spectacular voice making the musical sequences the highlight of
the film. Hudson is ready made for these types of roles which
highlight her voice over her acting ability.
She’s a capable actress but the script isn’t interested in any sort of
deep dive into what made Aretha tick as it only scratches the surface of her
trouble upbringing and relationships with men.
Still, she’s able to shine in the moment where she belts out Franklin’s songs. The
film stages those moment with the type of loving affection that they
deserve. The supporting cast do solid
work with Forest Whitaker making the biggest impression. Whitaker is the type of performer that can
take small moment and imbue them with emotions that range from menace to tenderness. When he and Hudson share the screen the movie
pops in a significant way that makes the rest off the film feel like a bit of a
letdown since it never maintains that type of quality. Respect, sadly, ends up being a run of the
mill biopic that doesn’t do anything truly meaningful deserving of it’s
subject.
C+
