https://variety.com/2021/film/review...in-1235035155/
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Bad review or not I think I'm going to see it anyway.There have been so many bad biopics
over the years I know but, dang....The subject's Aretha Franklin...
Most early reviews are ranging from lukewarm to positive. Jennifer's notices have been uniformly strong, but Mary J.'s gotten universal raves for her tiny but crucial part as Dinah. Like you, splanky, I can't possibly miss this, reviews be damned.
I join the crowd in looking forward to seeing this film! Roger Friedman gave it a recommended, yet unenthusiastic review noting JHud's performance and disliking a fair amount of obviously factually incorrect scenes. I loved the Genius series and hope to love this as well. It will be fun to hear all of your reactions -
I've heard this story in relation to Etta James, not Aretha.Quote:
as Dinah, a barely-seen Mary J. Blige delivers the film’s campiest line, overturning a table at one of Aretha’s shows: “Bitch, don’t ever sing the queen’s songs when the queen is in front of you!”
Perhaps the script would have been less flat if they included incidents like Aretha telling "Miss Martha" to stop singing her songs.
I thought the Dinah Washington incident was with Patti Austin, but again, reading how Dinah was, she probably told everybody at some point in time to stop singing her songs. If I were Aretha, Etta, Patti Austin or Patti LaBelle, Gladys, Dionne or anybody else, I wouldn't touch Dinah's songs [[especially if she was there).
Dinah really loved and helped Patti Austin, but she was also a child so she probably wasn't a real threat.
In addition to the Etta James incident, Patti LaBelle also wrote of a message she received from Dinah when she was closing her show with Dinah's hit WHERE ARE YOU: "Stop singing my damn song!"
This is where I'm starting to wonder how much "Hollywooding" has been done with the
story. Dinah died in 1963. She was just 39. Patti Austin who she knew and referred to
as her goddaughter was just 13 years old. Really only singing studio back up at first.
What Dinah is credited as calling "her" songs were the standard fare all of the female
singers were covering back then. Few credited as actually authoring them, post the
59 passing of Billie Holiday. Dinah as great as she was did have a salty side. She did
two songs with Brook Benton for what had been hoped to become an entire duet album.
That fell apart as she fought with him during recording over his "taking up her spot"...
BTW. Aretha's tribute album of songs Dinah had popularized was done after Dinah's
passing...
The Chancellor of Soul Mike Boone discusses Dinah in his Brook Benton tribute. She was something else!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbHY7Sx_1Z4
Yea, I love that Mike Boone does those Chancellor of Soul episodes. Unsung is not
enough for me..
I've seen Respect and I enjoyed it. Jennifer Hudson does justice to the legend of Aretha Franklin and the filmmakers do enough to cram the story into a two-hour running time [and I disagree with Variety's assessment of Jennifer's performance as Aretha].
Well, it's a bio-pic so there's going to be things that either didn't happen or were exaggerated upon for dramatic effect. So the incident between Aretha Franklin & Dinah Washington that's portrayed in the movie didn't happen, however, I enjoyed the scene [and as we know, there were a lot of stories like that one that did take place with legendary female R&B/Soul performers back in the day].
PS: I also liked Mary J. Blige's performance as Dinah.
I enjoyed Respect too , but having also seen the eight hour Genius series on TV, I noticed some of the missing stuff that they could not cram into the two hour movie. Jennifer's performance was very good
For those who leave the movie while closing credits are showing, stick around if you go. They show clips of the real Aretha performing. One of them was her tribute to Carol King at the Kennedy Honors from just a few years ago
[A low point for Aretha as she did other peoples songs all the time.
Perhaps the script would have been less flat if they included incidents like Aretha telling "Miss Martha" to stop singing her songs.[/QUOTE]
To those who’ve seen both how does the performances between the movie and series compare?
particularly Jennifer Hudson and Cynthia Erivo and Courtney Vance and Forrest Whitaker
I also saw the Aretha: Genius series earlier this year and enjoyed that as well [and yes, it digs deeper into Aretha's back story since there was more time to do so]. And I stayed during the closing credits for the pictures & clips of Aretha [and her performance of "A Natural Woman" at the Kennedy Center Honors tribute to Carole King]. It was so moving & I also recommend to people who see Respect to stay during the closing credits.
Jennifer was on Stephen Colbert this week and when they mentioned that performance, he said that he was the host that night at the Kennedy Center and was in the wings when Aretha walked to the piano to sing and play Natural Woman. He said that he never saw her perform live and wished that he had seen her in her prime. Jennifer gave a look of surprise and amazement but then Steve said something like "Wait, Wait. She then started to sing and I said 'What an idiot I am'". It was a nice compliment of saying that she still had her amazing talent right to the end.
I am glad that I saw both Respect and Genius0 If anything, they compliment each other
I plan on seeing the film,from what i've read about dinah,she could make a sailor blush if she felt crossed,but she was music royalty!!
I have seen both. And I agree, they do compliment each other. I felt Courtney B Vance's role in "Genius" showed a real womanizer whereas Forrest Whitaker was [I thought] extremely overbearing. It's apparently all parts of the Rev. C.L. Franklin.
Here's Rolling Stone's take on Respect:
‘Respect’: Aretha’s Music Carries This Biopic
A biopic of the Queen was never going to satisfy everyone — but Jennifer Hudson captures the power of Franklin’s songs.
Jennifer Hudson in 'Respect' Movie: Review of Aretha Franklin Biopic - Rolling Stone
A side-bar - I listened to the Respect soundtrack last evening and was quite surprisingly delighted. I expected to moan and groan 'How COULD they?' at the audacity of recreating the iconic music of MY Aretha, but in fact, the updated yet respectful arrangements and JHud's singing make a great soundtrack. Nice work, all!
And according to Darlene Love's autobiography, My Name Is Love, Martha Reeves had gotten equally upset when she found out that Darlene and her group The Blossoms, would performing Martha's "Dancing In The Street" on television. And this quote from the book says it all; "Most of the Black Divas I knew protected their songs even more fiercely than they protected their husbands".
I found this to be a great movie. Some of my thoughts but don't read if you are waiting to see the movie.
I went into this movie knowing that Aretha selected Jennifer Hudson so I was under the impression she and her family approved this movie so I was surprise that they did tackle some issue that I am not sure that Aretha would have allowed or wanted in the film if she was still alive. I have not read her book "From These Roots" but the reviews I have read made it sound like she gloss over a lot of stuff.
Thoughts:
- The young Aretha, Skye Dakota Turner has such a phenomenal voice. Have to research more of her singing.
- Forest Whitaker stole every scene he was in as Aretha's father Rev. C.L. Franklin. Hope he gets a nomination.
- Audra McDonald brought such warmth as Aretha's mother Barbara. I would have liked a bit more of their relationship.
- I heard Smokey Robinson voice and was looking for him in the movie. I was like "Where's Smokey?" LOL. Lodric Collins did a great job sounding like Smokey.
- Marc Maron did a great job as Jerry Wexler.
- It took me some time to get into Jennifer Hudson portrayal of Aretha. For me I had a hard time in the first half as I felt like Jennifer was trying to do Aretha's speaking voice. The second half was much better. Maybe because she has bit more material to sink her teeth into. I can see why they are talking about nominating her for an Oscar.
- I would like to have seen a bit more about the relationship between Aretha and Ken Cunningham.
Seeing that Aretha had severe mental issues definitely brought about a different understanding of her that I didn't have before.
Watching the movie and seeing her father trotting out a young Aretha at parties to sing and play the piano in front of his guest and I guessing over her siblings, must have made Aretha feel so special. I wondered if that why she had issues with her sisters and other female singers in that she craved that special spotlight all her life. I believe Aretha also had a special spot in her father's touring shows as well.
I couldn't help feel sad for Aretha's first two born sons. I am only going off the movie so I really don't know her full relationship with them but the movie implies she really wasn't there for them and her family took care of them. BTW did you catch that question by Dinah Washington regarding her sons? I couldn't believe they went there.
I do feel like there are probably additional or extended scenes from watching this but it must be hard to get it down to 2 and a half hours. Hopefully some of that will be in the release version when it comes to DVD/Blu-ray.
I haven't seen Aretha Genius yet. I did order that from my library to view so it will be interesting to see how that version compares to this one.
Not sure of all the accuracy but overall a great movie and I was very entertained.
^Thanks for your review, Luciano. We plan to see it next weekend.
Your hunch is correct: The original runtime was over 3 hours when it previewed last year. About 45 minutes were shaved off; this accounts for some scenes seeming to abruptly end for many viewers. The Blu-Ray should be a bonanza of extras.
I picked up Aretha's book, From These Roots, when it came out and she did gloss over a lot of stuff. Between the Aretha: Genius mini-series & Respect, I learned a lot more about The Queen of Soul than she was willing to reveal in that book. Also agree with your view that Respect might not be 100% accurate but it was entertaining & moving.
Btw, remembering Aretha as she passed away three years ago today.
Absolutely. My oldest friend, like myself, is a diehard Arethastan and griped and carped
about no one being good enough to portray her up until the moment he left the theater.
He then texted me, "Jennifer did the thing." From such a tough critic, high praise indeed. Can't wait!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ix820EII_1c
Aretha's mother in the movie Respect