Respect

Starring: Jennifer Hudson, Forest Whitaker, Marlon Wayans, Titus Burgess, Audra McDonald, Marc Maron, Heather Headley, Kimberly Scott, Hailey Kilgore, Albert Jones, Tate Donovan, Mary J. Blige, Skye Dakota Turner
Directed by: Liesel Tommy
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Biography, Drama, Music
2021

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Follows Aretha Franklin, from a difficult upbringing to global superstardom.

Review:

Tim: I spent most of Respect teetering between thinking this was a good movie, or not. Maybe that doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things, but it's why I do this. As the film progressed, a nagging feeling intensified, to the point where I can't outright celebrate Liesel Tommy's film. This is a decent movie, a solid biopic for the legendary Aretha Franklin, but the film ultimately falls short of it's subject's stature.

Now, no disrespect to the Queen, but there's absolutely no reason for this film to be 2 hours and 25 minutes long. I know movies are increasing in length everywhere, but this one of the movie's fatal flaws. Franklin's story is heartbreaking and inspiring, but there's not enough here to account for this exceedingly long run time. I got fatigued watching this film. There's way, way too many slow points. The film gets stuck in the middle and it feels repetitive- the same things get hit over our heads multiple times. And, I get that this is a challenge of many musical biopics, but we've seen this many times before. Now, the abuse that Franklin suffered in her childhood did feel unique and compelling, as heartbreaking and challenging as it was to watch those scenes and see what it did to this innocent girl. But, everything else follows a similar path- rise to stardom, some amount of increasing intoxication, a performance that goes badly and the singer hits rock bottom, an inspirational climb back on top. I get that you are basing a film on someone's life and have only so much to work with. The film did try to break out of this cycle- it spends a ton of time on Franklin's relationship with her father. That difficult man absolutely hurt his daughter in different ways and I appreciated the movie playing up that aspect. The movie does try to differentiate itself, but broadly, the same strokes are all there. So, that hurts- you have an overly long movie that is walking the same road that multiple other films have tread. This film does feel like it repeats the same themes over and over- her father is too stern and controlling, Franklin is struggling to escape the chokehold of child abuse, she is attracted to bad men and can't seem to break free. So much of this film involves examining Franklin's relationship with men. That takes up far too much of the runtime.

That might be okay, but the other issue is that the film doesn't dive deeply enough into Franklin as a person. I felt like I learned a lot about her through the men in her life- her abuser, her father, her boyfriend. Who was she outside of their influence? The movie doesn't give us enough of her. What that ultimately adds up to is an overly long movie that doesn't quite feel like it does its subject justice. Franklin was a stunningly amazing performer and she deserved a better biopic.

The other issue I had is that I don't think the movie used her music to its full effect. Franklin had some of the greatest hits of all time, beautiful, iconic, evergreen songs. That feels muted in the movie. Sure, we get Hudson singing some of those hits, but they didn't have the full impact they should have. Yes, a movie like this is going to focus mostly on the characters, but I do believe the music needed to feel more integrated and impactful here.

My complaints are all explanations for why the film isn't quite good. Respect is never bad, and Tommy deserves credit for that. The movie does try to focus on slightly different angles to Franklin's story. The movie is helped immensely by a surprisingly strong performance by Jennifer Hudson. Although yes, she has an Academy Award, I have to admit I haven't been convinced she's an especially good actress. This film at least gives me pause in that assessment. Hudson throws herself into this role and embodies much of what we'd expect to see in Franklin. I thought her performance was emotional, powerful, and memorable. The film might not quite be good, but that's not Hudson's fault at all. Plus, she can sing in such a remarkable way. I thought Forest Whitaker did an excellent job- he hits the right notes- her father is brutal in a way, but his heart was mostly in the right place. He plays it just right- this isn't an evil man, but a deeply flawed one. Whitaker's performance is one of the strengths of this film. Marlon Wayans was surprisingly good, too. I'm not sure he has a ton of talent, but this might be the best I've seen him. He plays the role straight and to resounding effectiveness. His presence looms large. That's part of why Albert Jones works so well- he hits all the opposite notes and is a breath of fresh air when he shows up. Tituss Burgess had some nice moments. Marc Maron sparkles in a supporting role that brings a great energy to the proceedings. Skye Dakota Turner was exceptional as young Aretha- her authenticity and stoicism, her singing voice- Turner was one of the highlights and part of me wanted to spend even more time with her. She's so good that it's almost a downer when Franklin grows up.

Besides some illuminating aspect of Franklin's life most people might not know, Respect otherwise follows the tried-and-true musical biopic path. The movie is worth watching for insight into Franklin, but I'm not sure it offers anything new, anything we haven't seen dozens of times before. I do think this movie had every chance to be at least good- it needed cutting, it needed more focus, less repetition. It's not a surprise that the film received no serious awards consideration, and this was released in a pandemic-ravaged year. If it ever had a chance to compete, 2021 was it. It couldn't, that's because it's only a decent film.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



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