Respect

Respect has everything you could hope for in a musical biopic. It has a good story and great songs and, best of all, it has someone in the lead role who can put those songs over.

Jennifer Hudson is so spectacular in Respect, the Aretha Franklin biopic, that she makes you overlook, ignore and eventually forgive the film’s multitudinous flaws.

This by-the-numbers Aretha Franklin biopic is all about Jennifer Hudson doing Aretha proud. And does she ever. As the legendary Queen of Soul, Hudson does not, will not, cannot hit a wrong note, creating a respectful tribute to both their radiant talents.

Similar to other recent musical biopic vehicles like Judy and The United States vs. Billie Holiday, Respect never reaches the greatness of its shining star.

Earnest to a fault, Respect spells out a handsome tribute to Aretha Franklin, with Jennifer Hudson and her peerless singing pipes as its formidable anchor. Yet this biography never fully sparks to life, as the Queen of Soul fights in episodic fashion to establish and later protect her musical legacy from the domineering men in her life.

There’s no question that director Liesl Tommy and star Jennifer Hudson have approached this project with reverence, hoping to highlight the late singer’s importance both as a cultural figure and a symbol of her era. But the cliches that usually attend such biopics — specifically, the need to simplify an individual’s demons and traumas into easily digestible dramatic beats — are especially frustrating here, leaving this overly earnest picture lacking the vibrancy of its dynamic subject.

The preceding two-plus hours of this 145-minute slog — Tommy’s threadbare hodgepodge of bad impressions, gratuitous filmmaking, and even worse depictions of mental health — isn’t even a shadow of the real natural woman.

This movie was incredible and Jennifer Hudson nailed it as Aretha Franklin something Cynthia Ervio couldn't do at all. It is a must see because this was done with Respect and with Aretha knowing about it and not waiting for Aretha to die and disrespect her wishes by doing something behind her back and excluding her family from the process.

It was ok for me - yes Jennifer Hudson was good in the role and yes Aretha Franklin deserved her own movie, but maybe because I, while knowing of her biggest songs, don't know much about the rest, the story was a bit boring at times - I see why fans would love it, but for me just because it is a film about legend doesnt mean it will be my favorite.

(Mauro Lanari) Just the fact that the first emotion comes after 52 minutes with Hendrix's "Hey Joe" is not auspicious. From that point on, Aretha's story is scripted in a remarkable mix of private and public life, family or sentimental relationships and her commitment as an activist in political-civil battles in favor of women and coloureds. It is also remarkable how this is translated into the making of her music, into the composition of her songs. The unexpected trouble is that artistic intuition is not transfigured into spiritual intuition, paradoxically due to the excess of scenes and dialogues on her religious roots. If so, then the problem would be caused by the debut director with a still too immature, flat and anonymous style.

A paint by the numbers biopic that doesn't really say much about the life of Aretha Franklin. Jennifer Hudson gives a competent performance, but the generally superficial script limits what Hudson can do. Aretha Franklin deserved a better cinematic tribute, but the influence Franklin undoubtedly had over the film is what makes the film mediocre. I would've preferred an honest depiction of who Franklin actually was, not who the real Aretha Franklin wanted us to think about her.

So boring , Is like a cheap karaoke... Jennifer is playing like her last Oscar winning caracther , no versatility