"RESPECT" (2021 release; 145 min.) is the latest bio-pic about Aretha Franklin. You may recall that earlier this year there was the 8 part TV mini-series "Genius: Aretha" which premiered in March, 2021, and while it wasn't bad, neither did it feel like it did full justice to the genius of Aretha. By then it was already well-known that a new bio-pic was being made starring none other than Oscar-winning Jennifer Hudson. In fact, in the last few years before passing away in 2018, Aretha herself had dared/blessed/encouraged Jennifer to play her. As the movie opens, we are introduced to 10 yr. Old Aretha, who is woken at night by her daddy to sing for a group of (mostly church) friends her parents are hosting for dinner. Aretha brings down the house, and before you know it, she is performing at church. In a clever montage, she starts singing "There Is A Fountain Filled With Blood", and young Aretha segues into adult Aretha....
Couple of comments: this movie is the feature debut for director Liels Tommy. She is best known for her work on Broadway. Here she makes the jump to the big screen, with a large production budget and an all-star cast fronted by Jennifer Hudson. The movie is quite good, although a bit slow at times. But the real reason for watching this is of course Jennifer Hudson, who brings a stunning performance. She really IS Aretha Franklin. As a consequence, even though the movie is not without flaws, "RESPECT" has now become the definitive Aretha Franklin biopic, period. I am already going on record that not only Jennifer Hudson will get a Best Actress Oscar nomination, but that she likely will be one of the, if not THE, frontrunner for that race.
As a complete aside, there is the original soundtrack of this movie, featuring Jennifer singing all those Aretha classics. Without the visuals of the movie, the soundtrack isn't nearly as compelling. But wait, there is a solution: in late July, a career-spanning and generous 4 CD box set (81 tracks; 310 min.) simply called "ARETHA" was released. Just like "RESPECT" is now the definitive Aretha Franklin biopic, "ARETHA" became the immediate, ultimate and definitive CD compilation. Bottom line: both "RESPECT" (the film) and "ARETHA" (the CD box) are a winner!
