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The Aretha Franklin biopic “Respect” concludes with footage of the real Queen of Soul performing at the Kennedy Center Honors tribute to Carole King, which was filmed earlier in the year. Re performs on the piano and sings the song “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” which was written by King and Re. At the conclusion of this performance, Re throws her fur coat to the stage floor with the reckless abandon of a true diva on the stage. When a biopic comes to a close with its actual subject, it’s an expected trope, perhaps the only one that hasn’t been viciously mocked by the excellent parody “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story,” and I usually find it to be an unnecessary swipe at the actor who’s spent the previous two-plus hours trying to convince you that they were that person. But in this case, it’s a welcome break from the usual formula. Upon the arrival of the genuine article, any spell that had been cast by the performance is suddenly broken.
During this scene, the real Re appears shortly after her on-screen counterpart, Jennifer Hudson, swaggers into a Los Angeles church to record Franklin’s most famous album, Amazing Grace. I remembered that moment from the 1972 concert documentary film, which had been left unfinished for nearly 50 years before being completed and shown for the first time in 2018. In my review, I stated that the film transported me back to my childhood church. I felt a similar sense of transcendence while watching Hudson perform the title song in the same outfit and hairstyle as in the film. If the actor is to sing her own songs, casting a fellow gospel singer as one of the great products of a gospel upbringing is an unavoidable requirement. Moreover, Hudson does more than just sing; if I may use the colloquial expression, Jennifer Hudson sings. In her recreation of that church entrance, however, she finally goes “full Aretha,” which means we get to see everything we’ve come to know and love about this iconic performer. As a result, when director Liesl Tommy cuts to footage from the Kennedy Center, it appears less like a usurpation and more like the conclusion of an origin story.
The song “Respect” reminded me of the movie “Lady Sings the Blues,” in which Diana Ross played Billie Holiday, which was released in 1972. The film is comparable to Cynthia Erivo’s Franklin miniseries “Genius: Aretha,” which aired last year, and this one is to last year’s film “The United States vs. Billie Holiday.” (I’ll be honest: I was a huge fan of Erivo’s music but found her show to be extremely irritating. She’s an incredible singer, though.) In the same vein as Ross’ film, this is a pure Hollywood treatment of its subject matter that benefits as much from its gleaming presentation as it does from a spectacular lead performance. The only scene in Sidney J. Furie’s film in which I didn’t realize I was watching Diana Ross in the role of Billie Holiday occurred—and Hudson does a good job of following Ross’ lead in not attempting to impersonate her character’s unmistakable voice. However, I felt as if the spirit of Holiday was being channeled onto the screen.
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Similarly, Hudson does something similar in “Respect,” which, admittedly, may not be enough to save the song from the genre trappings to which it adheres for some. Rather than a slavish imitation of something like Rami Malek in “Bohemian Rhapsody,” I prefer interpretations like Anthony Hopkins’ in “Nixon.” It’s true that there is only one Aretha Franklin, and as a lifelong fan, I was not sure I would be able to surrender in this situation. In addition, Tracey Scott Wilson’s screenplay contains some clunky and overfamiliar dramatic moments, and she occasionally keeps her lead character’s pain at an arm’s length, which diminishes the impact of the true story’s triumph. Hudson, on the other hand, is the film’s savior. She carries it off the battlefield in the same way she would a wounded comrade, and she nurses it back to health once she has reached safety. In reality, the tagline should read “Jennifer Hudson is Aretha Franklin,” not “Jennifer Hudson is this movie.” Jennifer Hudson is the star of the film.
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Skye Dakota Turner, who portrays the young Aretha Franklin in the film’s opening scenes, is laying the groundwork for Hudson’s character. In her limited screen time, she deftly conveys both the joys and the trauma that will shape the adult version of her character in the future. She is a natural performer, and when Re’s father, Rev. C.L. Franklin (Forest Whitaker), drags her out of bed to perform at a party filled with Black performer royalty such as Dinah Washington, she holds the audience in the palm of her hand (Mary J. Blige in a short, effective cameo). “She’s only ten, but her voice sounds like she’s thirty,” we’re told. In a later scene, Turner’s reactions to Audra McDonald (who plays Franklin’s mother in an underwritten role) make a later scene between Hudson and McDonald more powerful than anything else in the script. Her performance serves as a haunting presence throughout the film.
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Despite the fact that Franklin’s story is filled with ugliness (sexual assault, domestic abuse, and alcoholism), the film does a commendable job of resisting the temptation to treat these issues in a sensationalist manner. However, “Respect” never delves deeper than a superficial examination of how Franklin was affected by these traumatic experiences. They’re referred to as “the demons,” and that’s about where the story ends. Something like her relationship with the abusive Ted White (Marlon Wayans), a man her father immediately labels as “bad news,” presumably because he sees in him a reflection of his own egregious sins, is made more difficult to comprehend. Wayans is a better actor than his performances in films like “A Haunted House” suggest, but he isn’t particularly skilled at balancing a charming exterior with a rotten core; someone like Larenz Tate would have done a better job in this role. White, like so many other things, is best summed up by a line from an Aretha Franklin song. When it comes to “I Never Loved A Man,” the opening lines are succinctly brilliant: “You’re a bad heartbreaker who lies and cheats. You’re not good at heartbreaking at all.” “And I’m not sure why I’ve allowed you to do these things to me.”
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That song appears in one of those biopic tropes where the singer appears to conjure up a song out of thin air, and that song is one of them. Except that it works in this context because Franklin’s improvisational and arrangement skills are used to frame the song’s narrative. The only time we see her writing a song, it’s only the skeleton of her bluesy masterpiece “Dr. Feelgood,” which we hear at the end of the film. During the scene in which Franklin sings “Ain’t No Way,” a song written by her sister, Carolyn, Hudson captures the more humble side of Franklin (Hailey Kilgore). The singer, who is completely immersed in the collaboration, asks, “Show me how to sing your song.” In addition, this performance is the closest Hudson has come to a true representation of the real thing. As a result of the amount of music being written, arranged, and performed onscreen in “Respect,” the film almost feels like a stage production.
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Despite the fact that this is primarily the lead actor’s show, a few supporting performances stand out. It may seem strange that Tituss Burgess would be cast as Rev. James Cleveland, but it is important to remember the mischievous twinkle in the late legend’s eye. Marc Maron is a terrific Jerry Wexler, but his performance in “Ray” didn’t quite capture my affection in the same way Curtis Armstrong’s portrayal of fellow Atlantic Records alum Ahmet Ertegun did. The character of Whitaker is a caricature, but he captures the hypocrisy of pious, affluent hypocrisy that permeated every preacher I’ve ever encountered in my life.
While you’re busy filling out your “Walk Hard” trope bingo cards, these actors keep the action moving forward. There won’t be enough spaces for you to yell “BINGO!” but that’s okay. Respect is at its best when it allows Jennifer Hudson to express herself through song, which is exactly what it does in this case. Hudson performs with the same relentless intensity that Aretha Franklin was known for throughout her career, whether she is dressed in a nightgown or in the full, glorious regalia that Aretha Franklin wore in her concert appearances. It’s a fantastic performance, and the film is a thoroughly enjoyable experience. A hit on the way, and like so many other flawed but beloved classics, it will be played on cable for years and even decades to come.
The film is currently showing in theaters.
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