Respect (2021)

Directed by: Liesl Tommy | 146 minutes | biography, drama | Actors: Jennifer Hudson, Forest Whitaker, Marlon Wayans, Tituss Burgess, Audra McDonald, Marc Maron, Heather Headley, Kimberly Scott, Hailey Kilgore, Saycon Sengbloh, LeRoy McClain, Albert Jones, Skye Dakota Turner, Mary J. Blige

Long before other female artists were labeled ‘Queen’, or started calling themselves that, Aretha Franklin was already ‘The Queen of Soul’. You will recognize her voice among thousands, and you often only need to hear a few notes of her songs to know that it is she who sings. And whatever she sang, she knew how to move you emotionally with her voice. All the singers who came after her, from Whitney Houston to Beyoncé and Adele, are all indebted to Aretha. She understood the art of completely claiming songs that were actually someone else’s. Take her most famous song, ‘Respect’. Otis Redding, not one of the least, wrote the song and released it in 1965. Where that version more or less faded into oblivion, the version that Aretha released two years later made her immortal. In her ‘Respect’ we hear a powerful woman who knows what she wants and deserves what she needs. The fact that Aretha has not always dared to speak out so firmly can be seen in the biographical film that has appeared of her. Of course it is named after the song that definitely put her on the map: ‘Respect’ (2021).

That Aretha (1942-2018) possessed an exceptional talent was already apparent when she was just a little girl and through her father CL Franklin (played in the film by Forest Whitaker), who was a priest at the New Bethel Baptist Church, were asked to sing during church services. CL was a gifted orator who enjoyed some celebrity and was friends with other well-known figures such as Martin Luther King Jr. and singers like Sam Cooke, Dinah Washington and Ella Fitzgerald. When we meet little Aretha (Skye Dakota Turner), she can do her trick for all those celebrities as a barely ten-year-old at her father’s party. Her mother Barbara (Audra McDonald) has already left, after many quarrels with CL, who has the necessary flings. In the few moments she has with her mother, who will die young, Aretha learns not only excellent piano playing and singing, but also some wise lessons about the importance of standing up for herself.

But it would be a while before Aretha (played as an adult by Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson) is there. For years she has been bullied by the men around her. By her father, who sets himself up as her manager and determines which music she should sing. By the record executives at Columbia Records, who let her sing jazz standards for years that don’t give her a hit. And by Ted White (Marlon Wayans), the much older charmer she falls in love with but turns out to have loose hands. The most traumatic event of all is shrouded by screenwriter Tracy Scott Wilson and director Liesl Tommy that it raises more questions than it answers: After one of those parties, when little Aretha is already in her bed, an unknown man enters her room. inside and lock the door. Only scenes later do we see her with a big belly. She will have her first child when she is twelve years old; barely three years later, another child would follow. The film seems to want to let these violent events land as gently as possible, but seems to trivialize this trauma for Franklin in this way. While the demons she would later fight with were undoubtedly fueled (at least in part) by memories of what happened to her.

While her children are raised in Detroit by Grandma (Kimberly Scott), Aretha builds her singing career. On Ted White’s arm, she manages to tear herself not only from Columbia, but also from her father. Under the wings of record boss Jerry Wexler (nice role by Marc Maron) of Arista Records, she is looking for her own sound. She finds it in an unlikely place: Muscle Shoals in segregated Alabama and with a mainly white belt. Finally she scores the hits she so longed for. But Ted’s irascible temper, constant clashes with her father, her own diva behavior and the battle against her inner demons that increasingly make her reach for the bottle prove that she is not yet where she ultimately wants to be.

Music, the church, activism. These have been the three pillars in the life of Aretha Franklin and together they form the coat rack on which this biopic is hung. ‘Respect’ does not follow Franklin’s entire life, but ends with the live recordings of the gospel concert ‘Amazing Grace’ in 1972. With the return to the place where it all started – the church – the circle is nicely completed, according to Wilson and Tommy. That neat demarcation fits into this rather conventional biographical film. The film neatly ticks off all the highs and lows in Franklin’s life and that’s it; on to the next scene. It’s the same with many characters, who show up for a moment and then disappear again (Mary J. Blige as a bitchy Dinah Washington, you want to see more of that!). As a result, ‘Respect’ remains very superficial. The film does not say a word about Aretha’s motives, and what she feels during those events. That’s a shame, especially for Jennifer Hudson, who sings her heart out and meticulously mimics the mannerisms of Franklin, who chose her personally to portray her.

Franklin’s timeless classics are the main asset of this film. No matter how flawless Hudson sings, nothing beats the real Franklin. That becomes clear at the end of the film, when we are treated to an archive image of The Queen of Soul herself. By then already well over seventy and dressed in a thick fur coat, she sings ‘You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman’ during the Kennedy Center Honors. She does so with such feeling that even Barack and Michelle Obama burst into tears. The film ‘Respect’ can only dream of such an impact. Because although the film looks great and there is little to argue with on Hudson’s performance, unfortunately this clichéd biopic never rises above itself. Something Franklin was a master at!