Jennifer Hudson

Forest Whitaker

Marlon Wayans

Audra McDonald

Mary J. Blige

Marc Maron

Tituss Burgess

Saycon Sengbloh

Hailey Kilgore

Tate Donovan

Skye Dakota Turner

Heather Headley

Leroy McClain

Lodric D. Collins

Brenda Nicole Moorer

Brandon Gilpin

Tangela Large

Albert Jones

Myk Watford

Gilbert Glenn Brown

Kimberly Scott

Nevaeh Moore

Victoria Paige Watkins

Christopher Daniel

Zach Strum

Suzanna Boykin

Margina Dennis

Jerry Yuen

Ed White

Jonathan Glickman

Mark Dillon

Libra Cordero

Lawrence Davis

Stevie Martin

Matt Hovland

Charmaine Balcerzak

Greg Crawford

Julia Stockton

Sue Baden-Powell

Victor Jones-Moore

Kate Bilinski

Hunter Moore

Harvey Mason Jr.

Kris Bowers

Andrea Bowman

Delonda Harvey

Paul Hsu

Thomas Varga

David Vaccari

Marybeth Dillon

Moe Coles

Mandrill Hardge

Stacey Sher

Bernard Telsey

A. Renea Dyson

Tracy P. Lawrence

Parra Thomas

Ann Gray

Paul A. Levin

Leah Winkler

Avril Beukes

Tiffany Little Canfield

Irenia Vail

Kramer Morgenthau

Sarah Carter

Joyce Gilliard

Jackie Lynch

Genyii Scott

Aaron Worman

Ina Mayhew

Cathy T. Marshall

Kenton Jakub

Tracey Scott Wilson

Cassandra Powell

Philip Stockton

Callie Khouri

Natasha Arellano

Christy Caudle

Robert Wilson

Simi Wein

Mark Wilkening

Frank Kern

Thomas Kerns

Joseph Sacco

Ed Bruce

Praveen Allu

Anthony Bradley

Gary Archer

Ben Sumner

Caoimhe Maguire

John P. Nugent

Rob Nagy

Chris McGlamery

Munee Hayes

Diana Salzburg

Wendy Gipp

Crystal D. Brown

Kenyatta Williams

Alex Hillkurtz

Andrew Prescott

Duncan Key

Andrew Byrne

Brad Kalinoski

Brandon Kachel

Daniel Dupre

Matt Akey

Heather Taylor

Christopher Cheng

Aldo Ruggiero

Chris LeDoux

Kade Stauduhar

Daniel L. Smith

Nicholas Daniels

Adam Keane

Liesl Tommy

Scott Bernstein

Jason Cloth

Aaron L. Gilbert

Clint Ramos

Michael Heathcote

Caitlin Nobari

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Respect

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Bron Studios

Cinesite

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English

pop singer

biography

african american history

african american

african american musician

Peter McGinn

This was a good movie, and I enjoyed it. However, I don’t expect I will ever watch it a second time. In a way, it felt like I had already seen it. And I get why: the experiences of women, even celebrity women, often mirror each other when it comes to strict fathers, as=busive first husbands, and so on. The reason we have cliches is that a lot of stuff that happens is so common it becomes a cliche. I only wish the movie had surprised me once in a while when it came to the two-dimensional portrayal of those characters.

There were a few little surprises like that: the change in Aretha’s reaction to the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section backup band, a moment with her father late in the film, and a few other places. But mostly  it all seemed familiar. But still, I like the movie and recommend it.

CinemaSerf

Much has been made of the late Aretha Franklin's choice of actress to portray her in this early career retrospective - but I wonder what she might have made of the rest of the cast? Jennifer Hudson is superb when she sings, she captures much of the range and vitality of Ms Franklin. Unfortunately, as an actress she fares a little less well, and coupled with a really mediocre supporting cast the film drags quite frequently. The chronology of the story is simple enough, depicting the transition from innocent young girl - a sort of vocal trophy for her father, woken up to enthusiastically perform to the great and the good at house parties - through her disputes with the same strongly willed father (Forest Whitaker) as she hooks up with 12-years older Ted White (Marlon Wayans) and starts her bumpy road to stardom. Maybe had there been more actual opportunity for Hudson to deliver more songs, then the film would have stood out more - but there is too much emphasis on the (frankly, occasionally quite horrifying) domestic problems that rather turn this into an authentic, but still rather uninteresting tale of drink induced family woes. Certainly, these go some way to explaining the gritty determination of the woman to succeed, but they are allowed a dominance in the film that after a while become a little bit cyclical, dull even. What is clearly evident is her pride in her race, but that was also inclusive - she worked with people based on their skills and abilities regardless of their colour - including the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section - and that proves testament to a woman prepared to demonstrate a free thinking that was well ahead of it's time. Marc Maron works quite well as her long-suffering Atlantic records producer Jerry Wexler and Mary J. Blige turns in an interesting interpretation of a slightly temperamental Dinah Washington, but for the main it's all down to Hudson and she just needed to focus more on the wonderfully powerful portfolio of songs and less on the somewhat clunky drama. Stick around for the very end - there is a great "bonus track" from the lady herself.

Aretha Franklin's Got 4 Albums, But No Hits - Extended Preview

Screenwriter Tracey Scott Wilson on Respect

RESPECT | The Origin of “Respect” Official Clip | MGM Studios

RESPECT |  "Think" Official Clip | MGM Studios

RESPECT | Jennifer Hudson and Marlon Wayans Teach You How to Demand Respect | MGM Studios

RESPECT | Official Clip: Jennifer Hudson as Aretha Franklin Performs "Respect" | MGM Studios

RESPECT | The Queen’s Court – Cast Featurette | MGM Studios

RESPECT | In Theaters Now | MGM Studios

RESPECT | Jennifer Hudson Becomes Aretha Franklin – First Look Featurette | MGM

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Official Teaser Trailer

Jennifer Hudson is Aretha Franklin

Respect( 2021)

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A review by Peter McGinn

Written by Peter McGinn on Sun Oct 17 2021

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