classic biopic that didn't work out so well
- in terms of acting, Jennifer is sensational as Aretha and, in fact, no one could do better than her! the songs were impeccable in her voice
- the real problem is the construction of the film that doesn't have the slightest creativity to explore or even develop certain parts of the singer's life and then falls into the same kind of classic biopic we've seen (Judy (2019), Bohemian ( 2018) etc....)
- we have the classic proposal of: CHILDHOOD + RISE + SOME TURBULENT TRAUMA (here represented by alcoholism) + BEGINNING OF THE FALL + REDEMPTION (which here is with ‘’Amazing Grace'')
- in this, several parts of the story are just played to the viewer without the slightest development or explanation, which only proves the interest in making a biopic that brings together only the ''best moments'' of Aretha's life and focus the whole story on central protagonist, leaving the secondary characters with no story or contextualization
- here's my big problem: a story with SUPER potential, but which is weakened by being the same structure of biographical films that already exist, THAT MAKES ME LAZY
- apart from the MULTIPLE time cuts that come and go VERY FAST just to show you the best parts of her life, again! this in itself is not a problem, however, as there are many time cuts, everything is without any context.
- and again, what manages to hold the attention is just Jennifer as Aretha (and all the songs), because the movie is 2:20 am or so, and it always keeps making cuts between the years of life and it stops there!
- good movie, but very damaged

A defining voice of a generation portrayed by a superlative voice from this generation. I can't even imagine how difficult it was for Jennifer Hudson to so precisely capture the stylings of Aretha Franklin. Beautiful artistry. The music of this film is transporting. Stellar casting, all round. I can never say enough about Forest Whitaker's talent. Aretha walked among the giants of her time, musically, politically and socially, and this film captures that sweep. (I had no idea she had been so tied to the social movements of her time.) I admire the writers’ desire to respect Aretha's scope of talent from childhood to her latter years and all the complexities of her life, but the film is 2 hours and 25 minutes long, and I find it was dragging and labouring by it's end (although the fusion to Aretha live performance at the Kennedy Honours' celebration of Carole King as the credits roll is still floating through my head). It is a story worth telling and a worthy tribute, and my friend who saw the movie with me gave it a 9 out of 10, but one of my criteria for rating of 8 or above is whether I would see it again. So, I give this film a 7.9 (very good) out of 10. [BioPic]

Much has been made of the late Aretha Franklin's choice of actress to portray her in this early career retrospective - but I wonder what she might have made of the rest of the cast? Jennifer Hudson is superb when she sings, she captures much of the range and vitality of Ms Franklin. Unfortunately, as an actress she fares a little less well, and coupled with a really mediocre supporting cast the film drags quite frequently. The chronology of the story is simple enough, depicting the transition from innocent young girl - a sort of vocal trophy for her father, woken up to enthusiastically perform to the great and the good at house parties - through her disputes with the same strongly willed father (Forest Whitaker) as she hooks up with 12-years older Ted White (Marlon Wayans) and starts her bumpy road to stardom. Maybe had there been more actual opportunity for Hudson to deliver more songs, then the film would have stood out more - but there is too much emphasis on the (frankly, occasionally quite horrifying) domestic problems that rather turn this into an authentic, but still rather uninteresting tale of drink induced family woes. Certainly, these go some way to explaining the gritty determination of the woman to succeed, but they are allowed a dominance in the film that after a while become a little bit cyclical, dull even. What is clearly evident is her pride in her race, but that was also inclusive - she worked with people based on their skills and abilities regardless of their colour - including the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section - and that proves testament to a woman prepared to demonstrate a free thinking that was well ahead of it's time. Marc Maron works quite well as her long-suffering Atlantic records producer Jerry Wexler and Mary J. Blige turns in an interesting interpretation of a slightly temperamental Dinah Washington, but for the main it's all down to Hudson and she just needed to focus more on the wonderfully powerful portfolio of songs and less on the somewhat clunky drama. Stick around for the very end - there is a great "bonus track" from the lady herself.

This was a good movie, and I enjoyed it. However, I don’t expect I will ever watch it a second time. In a way, it felt like I had already seen it. And I get why: the experiences of women, even celebrity women, often mirror each other when it comes to strict fathers, as=busive first husbands, and so on. The reason we have cliches is that a lot of stuff that happens is so common it becomes a cliche. I only wish the movie had surprised me once in a while when it came to the two-dimensional portrayal of those characters.

There were a few little surprises like that: the change in Aretha’s reaction to the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section backup band, a moment with her father late in the film, and a few other places. But mostly it all seemed familiar. But still, I like the movie and recommend it.