By: Andrew Wing
Respect is a 2021 biographical musical drama film based on the life of American singer Aretha Franklin. The film is directed by Liesl Tommy in her feature directorial debut, from a screenplay written by Tracey Scott Wilson. The film stars Jennifer Hudson as Franklin, and the supporting cast consists of Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland, Black Panther), Marlon Wayans (Scary Movie, White Chicks, A Haunted House), Marc Maron (GLOW), Tate Donovan (Argo), and Mary J. Blige (Mudbound, The Umbrella Academy).
Respect premiered in Los Angeles on August 8, 2021 and was released theatrically in the United States on August 13, 2021 by United Artists Releasing.
THE GOOD
For those of you who do not know me, I am a massive fan of the Academy Awards, more popularly known as the Oscars. I am always trying to stay up to date with each and every award and see what the early predictions are for what is likely to get nominated and obviously what is projected to win. With all that said, my love for the Oscars is the main reason why I just needed to check this movie out, more specifically the performance of Jennifer Hudson as the legendary “Queen of Soul”, Aretha Franklin.
I won’t waste any more time, Jennifer Hudson has a very good chance at receiving a Best Actress nomination at the 94th Academy Awards for this performance. Hudson was so good and there was just something special about hearing her re-create some of Franklin’s biggest hits. Obviously with any movie that she is in, her voice is going to be the main asset and that was exactly what we got with Respect. Her voice is extremely powerful and they couldn’t have found a better actress for this role. Outside of the musical sequences where Hudson shines the most, I was impressed by her raw emotions she showcased as Aretha throughout the film with the numerous hardships she had to endure to make it to the top of the music industry.
Although Hudson had the best performance of anyone involved, I was also fond of some of the performances from supporting actors Forest Whitaker and Marlon Wayans. The both of them just demanded your attention whenever they were on the screen and the scenes where the two argued with one another were pretty intense to say the least.
THE BAD
With Respect, there was one grueling mistake that stuck out more than anything else, and that was that it was just too long. At basically two and a half hours, I couldn’t help but continually check the time on my phone which is never a good sign, and I really feel like this movie could have been better if it were an hour shorter. I don’t know what it is with some of the recent musical biopics, and I understand it is a biography of someone’s life, but do we really need to put every detail of their lives in and also show every single song in its entire capacity?
I just found it to be very dull at points, and I’m going to go ahead and blame that on the writers because I don’t know what they were going for here. If they were going for something like Bohemian Rhapsody or Rocketman, they completely missed it because those movies were far more entertaining to watch. It just lacked creativity and it felt like the plainest version of itself. I understand they wanted to show all of the bad things that she endured and the pain it caused her, because it would make her overcoming those hardships more rewarding in a sense to the viewer, but I just would have liked to see more of the good and happy things about her life. For example, and this really isn’t a spoiler, she has four children and we didn’t get to see her relationship with any of them, I don’t even think we learned any of their names.
You would think that for a movie about a person who is about as inspiring as they come, you would gain inspiration after watching it, but that was just not the case. It couldn’t have been more uninspiring which really is not what I was expecting with this. I walked out of the theater asking myself what the main take-away from the film was and to be completely honest, I couldn’t tell you.
THE VERDICT
Despite a powerful and potentially award-winning performance from Jennifer Hudson as Aretha Franklin, Respect is a mediocre film at best. It’s way-too-long runtime and bland storytelling of one of the most memorable people ever, ultimately and unfortunately makes for a pretty forgettable experience.
TED TAKES RATING - 6/10
Respect is now playing in theaters. Check out the latest trailer below.