Respect
Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson (Dream Girls) is R&B legend Aretha Franklin in this biopic co-starring Forest Whitaker and Marlon Wayans.
2020Rating: M, Mature themes and coarse language145 minsUSA
DramaTrue Story & Biography
- Director:
- Liesl Tommy (feature debut)
- Writer:
- Tracey Scott Wilson
- Cast:
- Jennifer HudsonForest WhitakerMarlon WayansAudra McDonaldMary J. BligeMarc MaronTituss BurgessSaycon Sengbloh
Respect / Reviews
The Guardian
Jennifer Hudson tries her best with a disappointingly rote retread through cliches of a well-worn genre...
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Slant Magazine
Tommy’s flat direction... lends a generic affectlessness to practically every scene in which Hudson... isn’t singing her heart out.
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Boston Globe
Respect finds a way to bring together woman and artist in a way that does justice to both.
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Entertainment Weekly
(Respect) comes up short in what should be the most crucial ingredient - soul.
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Rolling Stone
Respect is never better - Hudson is never better - than when the movie sets aside the bullet points to delve into the talent.
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IGN
Respect has the subtle nuance, grace, and vulnerability that benefits greatly from a female vantage point.
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FilmInk
What it lacks in thematic detail is almost entirely overridden by how good the lead actress is at its centre.
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Film Threat
Liesl Tommy extracts the proper emotion from every scene, and the music is like truffles on top of a fantastic meal.
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Empire Magazine
A perfectly serviceable biopic with good performances... but one that isn't nearly as transcendent as its subject deserves.
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Associated Press
After more than two hours of the new messy Aretha Franklin biopic Respect, it’s not clear what it means, wasting a lot of superb screen talent in the slapdash process.
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A.V. Club
Solid performances can’t save a film so shamelessly invested in stale biopic cliches...
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Vulture
(A) threadbare hodgepodge of bad impressions, gratuitous filmmaking, and even worse depictions of mental health...
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Hollywood Reporter
The ageless music, of course, is the galvanising force, but it’s the personal struggle behind it that makes the story so affecting.
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San Francisco Chronicle
Liesl Tommy’s sensitive direction brings out the key moments in subtle ways...
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