Respect

Jennifer Hudson plays Aretha Franklin in Respect, a biographical musical about the early life and career of  the influential and inspiring soul and gospel singer. The movie goes from Aretha's childhood as we see her singing skills grow, her baptist father's parties involving well known gospel singers, her parents' divorce, and becoming pregnant very young to then growing up befriending Martin Luther King, signing on to her first record label, dealing with her first husband's abuse, finding success with Atlantic Records, becoming an alcoholic due to being overworked, sobering up, and finally producing her 1972 gospel album which was her most successful. While the film is pretty standard for a musical biopic and the writing is nothing too spectacular, it is well written and you do get to know a lot about Aretha's life so as to understand what she went through. Even when the storytelling isn't all that great and at times standard, Hudson's performance as Aretha, and even Skye Dakota Turner as the younger version, are always shining when present. Of course that's not to say that Hudson is the only great actor in this as you do have Forest Whitaker, Marc Maron, and a surprisingly serious Marlon Wayans as Aretha's abusive first husband. Being a musical biopic, another great aspect is of course the songs from Aretha's early career as well as Kris Bowers's score. Director Liesl Tommy doesn't do anything too outstanding in her filmmaking but does manage to capture the eras of when the film is set thanks to Kramer Morgenthau's cinematography and the production design. So while Respect does nothing new, what it does do is give us a well made biopic to one of the most well loved and respected singers of the 20th century with strong performances. Over all: 98%

2021 top list so far:

1. In the Heights

2. The Green Knight

3. The Suicide Squad

4. Free Guy

5. Nobody

6. Black Widow

7. A Quiet Place Part II

8. Respect

9. Raya and the Last Dragon

10. Jungle Cruise

11. Cruella

12. Wrath of Man

13. F9

14. Snake Eyes

15. Old

16. Space Jam: A New Legacy