Respect

Steve Crum started his review by admitting, “Some of my favorite movies are biographies. Make that MANY. I am talking Hollywoodized versions of a celebrity’s life. The musical bio is a particular fav sub-genre. Respect, the Aretha Franklin saga, is a comfortable fit. It’s pretty much cookie-cutter predictable. (Hey, we all know Aretha’s songs…and there are 18 of them sung here by Jennifer Hudson over the 145-minute running time.)” In the end, if you are an Aretha Franklin fan, you will love “Respect,” released in 2021. The musical sequences are great.

Fans and others will have to endure some really sad facts of Aretha’s abusive childhood and adult personal life. Crum noted, “Regarding the latter, think of Tina Turner’s marriage to Ike…as depicted in 1993’s What’s Love Got to Do With It?” “Respect’s” screenplay, by Tracy Scott Wilson, effectively scores literally and figuratively, yet leaves out some key facts – probably because they are just too painful.

Starting in 1952 Detroit, 12-year-old “Ree” (Skye Dakota Turner) is woken up by her Baptist minister father (Forest Whitaker) to once again get out of bed to entertain the loud party in the living room, where she is told to impress the guests by her adult-like singing. (Ree/Aretha and her two sisters (Saycon Sengbloh and Hailey Kilgore) live with their dad, who is divorced from an alcoholic mom she really misses and loves.) Tragically, Ree is raped during one of her father’s parties – in her own bedroom – and she gives birth to her first son when she is 13.

Crum noted, “What Wilson’s screenplay fails to mention is the same thing occurs again when she is 14, resulting in her second son. The double whammy is that her pious father, Rev. C. L. Franklin (Forest Whitaker), raped a friend’s 12 year-old as well. And she gave birth too. These episodes were conveniently edited out.”

Ree’s life is broken more when her mother, Barbara Siggers Franklin, played by Audra McDonald, suddenly dies. Now she has no one who understands her, and no adult to turn to. Her father is anything but sympathetic or personable.

As Ree goes older, with her own children (William J. Simmons, Jerel Xavier Alston, Chase Burgess, Chirstopher Daniel, Malaki Sample, Ethan Xavier Williams) being taken care of by her grandmother (Kimberly Scott), she becomes more active in her father’s church and political aspirations. Her father’s close friends become hers, including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., played by Gilbert Glenn Brown.

It is not surprising that a lot of these early scenes include gospel songs – obviously a major influence on Aretha Franklin’s singing style. Early on, her father began planning her career as a recording artist. Crum said, “He is her agent/manager. Surprisingly, at least to me, C. L. encourages Reth to sign with Columbia Records in NYC, and is introduced to the legendary jazz authority John Hammond. The moderately successful jazz records lead to several albums of pop standards.” At this point Aretha is only doing cover songs, and nothing original.

Aretha’s career then varies until she breaks from her father’s supervision to old friend Ted White, played by Marlon Wayans, who makes a successful career with original songs. She is on her way up in her career, helped by an aggressive and very physically abusive husband, Ted.

This goes with “Respect,” a sadly appropriate movie title which reflects both Aretha’s conflict and one of her biggest songs.

Much more develops between Aretha and Ted, Aretha and her father, Aretha and her sisters, and Aretha and her addictions. (Not much is said about her children, however.)

There are some surprisingly good performances by marc Maron as record producer Jerry Wexler, and Tituss Burgess (who you might remember from the Netflix series "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt") and gospel singer/pianist/composer James Cleveland.

Though a lot of the script focuses on the recording studio and creative process, it is Jennifer Hudson’s portrayal of Aretha Franklin’s songs that shines here. Hudson was the late Aretha’s personal choice to play her.

An excellent choice indeed.

Check this out on Paramount+. It is a great movie. I have loved Aretha Franklin’s music for a long time. Then again, who hasn’t? However, there were things about her I didn’t know, and this film really helped bring a lot of that to my attention. You will feel sad when you see certain things in this film, but you should still see it nonetheless. See it if you liked Aretha Franklin’s music, and at least honor her memory.

Now we have come to the end of this year’s “Black History Movie Month.” I hope you enjoyed this month. Stay tuned next month when I look at more excitement.