Respect: Tour-de-Force by Jennifer Hudson

I wasn't too interested in seeing the biopic "Respect," since the reviews were mediocre.  (The Rotten Tomatoes Critics only gave it 69%.)  I only saw it because no other film out there seemed any better.  Robin and I were pleasantly surprised and we enjoyed it much more than we had anticipated.  I consider it a MUST-SEE for any Aretha Franklin fan.  Jennifer Hudson plays Aretha, and she does a phenomenal job.  Considering that she sings and acts superbly, I think she deserves an AA nomination.  (It will probably take a legendary performance by someone else to top it.)  I think the film needs the BS – not because of the visuals, but to get the most out of the terrific soundtrack, which has many of Aretha's great songs. The film begins in Aretha's childhood, where is is already a prodigious talent, singing gospel in her father's church.  Young Aretha (Skye Dakota Turner) is being raised by a domineering and controlling father, Rev. C. L. Franklin (Forest Whitaker).  Her parents are divorced, and her mother, Barbara (Audra McDonald), is a singer herself.  Although she is usually away on tour, she and Aretha still have a very close relationship.  Aretha's childhood was very stressful and psychologically traumatic, which led to her having serious problems as an adult. After about 30 minutes of the movie, Aretha is now an adult.  She is trying to launch her career, but is being straight-jacketed by her father, who wants her to be a jazz singer.  None of her albums are hits.  (A similar situation happened to Katie Perry when she was only making Christian music and wasn't very successful.)  Aretha finally takes control and becomes the "Queen of Soul" with numerous #1 hits, sung extremely well by Hudson. Aretha had a tumultuous relationship and marriage to Ted White (Marlon Wayans) as well as other serious problems, but she managed to triumph over all them before she died.  Aretha was very involved in the Civil Rights Movement and was a good friend of MLK.  She also contributed her time and money to other political causes.  I didn't know anything about her life, but she was a woman of great courage and determination and the movie demonstrates this well. Bottom Line: This movie deserves more "Respect" than it's getting.