Respect Review: Aretha Franklin Deserved Better Than A Surface-Level Biopic

Aretha Franklin’s career, like her singing voice, is impressive and memorable. She was also a person beyond her fame, though, someone who struggled with mental health, a childhood marred by the grief of losing her mother, and sexual violence and abuse. Directed by Liesl Tommy from a screenplay by Tracey Scott Wilson, Respect aims to show off Franklin’s singing career at the expense of devaluing her as a person. The film, which has occasionally resplendent moments, loses its shine because it fails to treat Franklin’s life with the respect and depth it deserves.

The film begins with Aretha, Ree for short, being awakened by her father C.L. Franklin (Forest Whitaker), a well-known minister, to sing for those gathered at the house. Even at the age of ten, Aretha has a tremendous voice and stage presence, one that her father exploits in her youth. Respect then goes on to cover Aretha’s life from 1952 to the mid-1970s, through her attempts at making hits with Columbia Records before deciding to leave them to sign with Atlantic, where she worked with producer Jerry Wexler (Marc Maron) and was managed by her first husband, Ted White (Marlon Wayans, whose performance here is revelatory). Interspersed between Aretha’s goals to make hits and her rising stardom are moments from her life that are largely glossed over or treated like footnotes, including the death of her mother Barbara (Audra McDonald), her mental health, and Ted’s domestic abuse. 

Respect is all over the place. The film covers a little over two decades of Franklin’s life, yet it’s easy to walk away feeling as though nothing has been learned about the late singer that couldn’t have been gleaned from a Wikipedia entry. The script treats Franklin as more of an icon than a person and many of the aspects of her life, ones meant to establish how they shaped her later on, barely scratch the surface of who she is. There are scenes that reveal she is dealing with “the demon,” which could allude to the trauma of being raped at the age of 12 or her mental health, both of which are never really addressed. Respect wants to highlight all the glitz and glam at the height of her career, which more fully launched after several not-so-hit albums in Franklin’s early years, but fails to dig deeper into the singer’s life. 

It’s always the struggle of a musical biopic and Respect is no different, uplifting Franklin’s discography rather than peeling back the layers of her life. The latter would have been more interesting considering viewers who are interested in seeing this film have likely heard all of the songs featured in it. A film such as this one, with the level of talent and potential it has, shouldn’t fall so flat; yet it is nearly soulless. Franklin’s activism is referenced but never shown, the man who raped her is never brought up by name or mentioned to anyone at any point, and the singer’s interiority is rarely, if ever, given any attention. There were so many aspects of her life that were worth focusing on and exploring further, including Franklin’s mental health and alcoholism, which were swept under the rug rather quickly, as though to avoid contending with such issues for the fear of tarnishing her image. 

Respect manages to sidestep giving context to nearly everything, which makes the story feel a lot more hollow than it should be. The story is predicated on all of the men who are in control of Franklin’s life — from her father to her first husband — and Respect sets it up so that she has a “finding her voice” moment that doesn’t have any emotional resonance to it. The film flits from one fact to the next, more concerned with ensuring its chronology than in delving further into Franklin’s emotions and the various roles she played throughout her life. The biopic is a paper-thin story that doesn’t seem interested in figuring out who the singer was beyond her role as the Queen of Soul. To that end, Hudson shines when she takes to the stage, her performance a combination of Franklin’s mannerisms and her own. When she’s not onstage and is just being Ree, however, Hudson’s portrayal of the soul legend falters. 

To be sure, fans of Aretha Franklin’s music will enjoy the performances and the intimate close-ups Tommy employs to capture them, as well as the many montages throughout the film that show Franklin’s rise to fame after years of struggle and failed albums. The costumes are outstanding and there are quite a few moments that bring out the potential Respect could have had. However, they may be disappointed with everything else the film has to offer because it refuses to examine the legendary singer’s life and emotions any closer than it has to.

Respect is playing in theaters as of August 13, 2021. The film is 145 minutes long and is rated PG-13 for mature thematic content, strong language including racial epithets, violence, suggestive material, and smoking.

About The Author

Mae Abdulbaki
(1082 Articles Published)

Mae Abdulbaki is a movie reviews editor with Screen Rant. She previously wrote about a variety of movies and TV shows for Inverse, CinemaBlend, Pajiba, and The Young Folks, where she wrote reviews, features, news pieces. Her other work can be found at The Mary Sue, Film School Rejects, UPROXX, Heroic Hollywood, Looper, The List, and Bam Smack Pow, among others. Mae has also appeared on television segments, podcasts, and panels to discuss all things entertainment.

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