Starring Jennifer Hudson, Forrest Whittaker, Marion Waynas, and Audra McDonald
Directed by Lisel Tommy
Music and Lyrics by various
Aretha Franklin has a lot in common with Tina Turner. She lost a parent as a child, had an abusive marriage, fought back when she found religion, had her initial success in the mid-late 60's, made a comeback in the 80's. In other ways, Aretha was a very different woman. How different? Let's begin in Detroit, Michigan, as the young Aretha (Skye Dakota Turner) sneaks into a party held by her pastor father CL (Whittaker) and find out...
The Story: Aretha loves performing more than anything, especially with her singer mother Barbara (McDonald). After her mother dies young of a heart attack, Aretha refuses to speak for a year. CL finally goads her into singing for the church choir. That not only restores her voice, it gives her the impetus to focus on music.
Though she marries young and has two children before even being out of her teens, her father still gives her tickets to New York to meet with Columbia Records executives. She sings jazz standards for them, but as her family friend Dinah Washington (Mary J. Blige) reminds her, she needs to find her own style. She does find a manager and a second husband in Ted White (Waynas), a charming old friend. Her father doesn't approve, but Ted does get her to Atlantic Records after Columbia drops her.
Franklin finally finds her own sound - and a hit song - in "I Never Loved a Man (the Way I Loved You)." She and her sisters arrange the Otis Redding song "Respect" into an even bigger hit. She's even raising money for civil rights causes, getting an award from none other than Martin Luther King Jr. (Gilbert Glenn Brown) himself. Ted, however, is causing trouble behind the scenes, fighting with the musicians and beating Aretha. Aretha does leave him, but she overworks herself into a drunken stupor...until a vision of her mother reminds her of what she really loves to sing most of all.
The Song and Dance: Hudson's incredible performance as Franklin, including a couple of great numbers, and the period-perfect costumes and sets are reason enough to see this one. She really tears up the floor getting into Franklin's signature style and her elaborate feather-and-bead gowns. Whittaker is the only one who gets near her as her gruff father who is determined that she become the star his estranged wife never got the chance to be. And as harrowing as the story is, for the most part, it steers clear of over-the-top melodrama. (And good for Aretha for realizing what a jerk Ted was and getting out of her bad relationship quicker than Tina did hers.)
Favorite Number: We open with young Aretha singing "My Baby Likes To Be-Bop (And I Like to Be-Bop Too)" at her father's party. Clad in her white night gown, she still manages to deliver a marvelous performance. "There Is a Fountain Filled With Blood" takes us from Aretha's childhood to adult self singing in the church choir as she regains her voice. The Nat King Cole standard "Nature Boy" is one of the jazz songs Aretha recorded, but it's also her feelings on Ted when he reenters her life.
After false starts (thanks to a jealous Ted), Hudson finally gets through her searing version of Franklin's first major hit, "I Never Loved a Man (the Way I Loved You)." "Respect" carries us through a montage of Franklin's success in the mid-60's. "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" likewise shows us a stronger Aretha as she pushes the abusive Ted out of her life. The movie ends with her throbbing performance of "Amazing Grace" live at her church, which apparently became her biggest-selling album.
What I Don't Like: While it's a bit easier to take than What's Love Got to Do With It, it's still a standard biographical melodrama that hits all of the up-and-down beats without adding much that's new to the table. It's also way too long at two and a half hours. A lot of the slow middle before she finds religion and decides to do a gospel album probably could have been trimmed. It's not as violent as What's Love, but there's still some violence (including one scene of abuse), bad language, and many nasty racial slurs. Once again, this one isn't for children.
The Big Finale: A must if you're a fan of Hudson or Franklin, or are interested in the history of rock or soul or the civil rights era.
Home Media: As one of the newer movies I've reviewed, it's easily available on streaming and disc.
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