Drama

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Respect

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

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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

Kimberly Scott

Nevaeh Moore

Victoria Paige Watkins

Christopher Daniel

Zach Strum

Tracey Scott Wilson

Callie Khouri

Stacey Sher

Harvey Mason Jr.

Jonathan Glickman

Sue Baden-Powell

Kris Bowers

Kramer Morgenthau

Avril Beukes

Tiffany Little Canfield

Bernard Telsey

David Vaccari

Ina Mayhew

Mark Dillon

Marybeth Dillon

Sarah Carter

Cathy T. Marshall

Natasha Arellano

Charmaine Balcerzak

Andrea Bowman

Suzanna Boykin

Christy Caudle

Moe Coles

Libra Cordero

Lawrence Davis

Margina Dennis

A. Renea Dyson

Joyce Gilliard

Mandrill Hardge

Delonda Harvey

Victor Jones-Moore

Tracy P. Lawrence

Jackie Lynch

Stevie Martin

Cassandra Powell

Genyii Scott

Parra Thomas

Irenia Vail

Robert Wilson

Aaron Worman

Ann Gray

Paul A. Levin

Simi Wein

Leah Winkler

Kate Bilinski

Greg Crawford

Matt Hovland

Paul Hsu

Kenton Jakub

Frank Kern

Hunter Moore

Julia Stockton

Philip Stockton

Thomas Varga

Ed White

Mark Wilkening

Jerry Yuen

Anthony Bradley

Thomas Kerns

Joseph Sacco

Praveen Allu

Ed Bruce

Gary Archer

Alex Hillkurtz

Chris McGlamery

Rob Nagy

Diana Salzburg

Wendy Gipp

Caoimhe Maguire

John P. Nugent

Ben Sumner

Kenyatta Williams

Munee Hayes

Crystal D. Brown

Daniel L. Smith

Kade Stauduhar

Heather Taylor

Christopher Cheng

Aldo Ruggiero

Andrew Prescott

Chris LeDoux

Brad Kalinoski

Duncan Key

Daniel Dupre

Nicholas Daniels

Andrew Byrne

Matt Akey

Brandon Kachel

Adam Keane

Liesl Tommy

Scott Bernstein

Jason Cloth

Aaron L. Gilbert

Clint Ramos

Michael Heathcote

Caitlin Nobari

Peter McGinn

This was a good movie, and I enjoyed it. However, I don’t expect I will ever watch it a second time. In a way, it felt like I had already seen it. And I get why: the experiences of women, even celebrity women, often mirror each other when it comes to strict fathers, as=busive first husbands, and so on. The reason we have cliches is that a lot of stuff that happens is so common it becomes a cliche. I only wish the movie had surprised me once in a while when it came to the two-dimensional portrayal of those characters.

There were a few little surprises like that: the change in Aretha’s reaction to the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section backup band, a moment with her father late in the film, and a few other places. But mostly  it all seemed familiar. But still, I like the movie and recommend it.

CinemaSerf

Much has been made of the late Aretha Franklin's choice of actress to portray her in this early career retrospective - but I wonder what she might have made of the rest of the cast? Jennifer Hudson is superb when she sings, she captures much of the range and vitality of Ms Franklin. Unfortunately, as an actress she fares a little less well, and coupled with a really mediocre supporting cast the film drags quite frequently. The chronology of the story is simple enough, depicting the transition from innocent young girl - a sort of vocal trophy for her father, woken up to enthusiastically perform to the great and the good at house parties - through her disputes with the same strongly willed father (Forest Whitaker) as she hooks up with 12-years older Ted White (Marlon Wayans) and starts her bumpy road to stardom. Maybe had there been more actual opportunity for Hudson to deliver more songs, then the film would have stood out more - but there is too much emphasis on the (frankly, occasionally quite horrifying) domestic problems that rather turn this into an authentic, but still rather uninteresting tale of drink induced family woes. Certainly, these go some way to explaining the gritty determination of the woman to succeed, but they are allowed a dominance in the film that after a while become a little bit cyclical, dull even. What is clearly evident is her pride in her race, but that was also inclusive - she worked with people based on their skills and abilities regardless of their colour - including the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section - and that proves testament to a woman prepared to demonstrate a free thinking that was well ahead of it's time. Marc Maron works quite well as her long-suffering Atlantic records producer Jerry Wexler and Mary J. Blige turns in an interesting interpretation of a slightly temperamental Dinah Washington, but for the main it's all down to Hudson and she just needed to focus more on the wonderfully powerful portfolio of songs and less on the somewhat clunky drama. Stick around for the very end - there is a great "bonus track" from the lady herself.

Aretha Franklin's Got 4 Albums, But No Hits - Extended Preview

Screenwriter Tracey Scott Wilson on Respect

RESPECT | The Origin of “Respect” Official Clip | MGM Studios

RESPECT |  "Think" Official Clip | MGM Studios

RESPECT | Jennifer Hudson and Marlon Wayans Teach You How to Demand Respect | MGM Studios

RESPECT | Official Clip: Jennifer Hudson as Aretha Franklin Performs "Respect" | MGM Studios

RESPECT | The Queen’s Court – Cast Featurette | MGM Studios

RESPECT | In Theaters Now | MGM Studios

RESPECT | Jennifer Hudson Becomes Aretha Franklin – First Look Featurette | MGM

Official Trailer

Official Teaser Trailer

Jennifer Hudson is Aretha Franklin

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