Respect

Respect

The rise of Aretha Franklin’s career from a child singing in her father’s church’s choir to her international superstardom.

  • Released: 2021-08-12
  • Runtime: 145 minutes
  • Genre: Drama, History, Music
  • Stars: Jennifer Hudson, Forest Whitaker, Marlon Wayans, Audra McDonald, Mary J. Blige, Marc Maron, Tituss Burgess, Saycon Sengbloh, Hailey Kilgore, Tate Donovan, Skye Dakota Turner, Heather Headley, Leroy McClain, Lodric D. Collins, Brenda Nicole Moorer, Brandon Gilpin, Tangela Large, Albert Jones, Myk Watford, Gilbert Glenn Brown
  • Director: Liesl Tommy
 Comments
  • amwood-91434 - 2 February 2024
    She is Brilliant
    Jennifer Hudson is great in the role, but the storyline is disjointed. Had to keep dipping into Wikipedia to check the background on her mother, her father and Aretha herself.

    Howard Whittaker isn't aged throughout the film and he plays a pretty nasty controlling character but it pales into comparison to the nature of the true character he was.

    Her mother's separation from the family isn't explained nor is how the family come to live in such apparent wealth and comfort!

    Partner / husband no 2 is not explained particularly well either nor her children.

    Interesting, disjointed and could have been put together so much better.
  • kfgsznss - 22 June 2023
    God Saved The Queen...
    I love this movie, it really shows how the young Princess became the "Queen Of Soul." Young Aretha grew up around the greatest artists and many beautiful, strong people who wanted the best for her. It is sad to learn how her father treated her and how he controlled her. I'm sure he loved her and wanted the best for her but didn't always know how. Aretha married a man named Ted White who was a real s.o.b. And I wish she could have been safe and cherished in the marriage instead. There's lots of great music and history involved as well. Jennifer Hudson is amazing as always and her lovely, powerful voice knows no limits. She's fantastic as usual. It's a great movie and I feel like I understand Aretha more and her life here is really interesting. If you like Aretha you love this. I do want to point out that on the X-Ray on the screen it just kept the same five actors from the beginning and I didn't get to know who everyone was in the film and that's a shame. IMDB please fix this, I've never seen it on other movies incorrectly and it's deserves fixing. Thank you.
  • classicsoncall - 14 November 2022
    "This is your show Miss Franklin. Your record."
    Taking nothing away from Aretha Frankin's stature as the 'Queen of Soul', I couldn't help thinking that this was a very unflattering portrait of the famous singer. Following a childhood rape before she was even a teenager, her early years dealing with an absent mother presumably instilled in Franklin a similar disregard for the children she bore with different men, and left in the care of her paternal grandmother (Kimberly Scott). I just found that to be incredibly sad, particularly since Miss Franklin didn't appear to be very much fazed by it, concerned as she was to record hit songs following a series of fairly successful albums covering other singers. Her prominence as a vocalist however cannot be denied, and I found it illuminating to learn how so many of her hits, like 'Chain, Chain, Chain', 'Think', and 'Respect' reflected the things going on in her life at the time. You wouldn't have been able to make that connection back in the day when she was achieving stardom, but placed within the context of her life and personal struggles, the meaning of the songs to her proved very biographical. I thought Jennifer Hudson did a credible job portraying the legendary Aretha Franklin, with a cast that firmly demonstrated family support during the turbulent times in her life.
  • bpavone - 1 July 2022
    Good Movie, Incredible Performance by Hudson
    Definitely a good movie, some fantastic scenes, a real tribute, but the thing that stuck with me is Hudson's performance. I mean, what a performance. You know you have a great show when you come away thinking the actress is as good as the star. Aretha would have been more than proud.
  • coochie69 - 27 May 2022
    Respect
    A beautiful, moving movie. A cinematic piece of art.

    From the music to the actors, everything about the movie was beautiful. Truly amazing, I would definitely recommend others to watch!