When Liesl Tommy’s Aretha Franklin biopic “Respect” opens, Aretha is still just a kid, hoping to please her dad (the formidable minister C.L. Franklin, played here by a well-cast Forest Whitaker) with ...

Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Hudson expertly embodies many aspects of the young Aretha Franklin in “Respect,” but she drew the line when it came to smoking cigarettes in director’s Liesl Tommy’s ...

Tom Santilli is a respected journalist and member of the Critics Choice Association, Detroit Film Critics Society and Online Film Critics Society since 2010. Tom is the Executive Producer and co-host ...

HOLLYWOOD, LOS ANGELES -- In the new movie "Respect," Jennifer Hudson takes on the monumental role of the late, great Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin. "Respect" tells the story of Franklin's ...

“That actually happened to another jazz singer, but the incident seemed very true to their relationship,” Scott Wilson said. “So I gave it to Aretha instead.” Etta James was the singer in Washington’s ...

The new biopic “Respect” runs through two decades of Aretha Franklin’s life in 2½ hours, starting at age 9 and culminating with her back-to-the-roots gospel project “Amazing Grace.” The film, starring ...

It’s January 2020, but the Hudgens Center in Duluth, Ga., is thrown back to Concertgebouw Amsterdam in 1968. Jennifer Hudson, radiant in an intricately beaded Swarovski crystal gown, is roaring ...

The film had originally been scheduled to premiere in August 2020 but was first pushed back to January 2021 at the start of the pandemic Jennifer Hudson's highly anticipated film, Respect, has been ...

The 'Dreamgirls' star looks and sounds great in the role, but this overly respectful biopic steers clear of revealing the traumas that shaped the soul legend. Pandemic delays pushed “Respect” from the ...

Star Jennifer Hudson hits a few high notes in a film beset by the usual biopic tropes and shortcuts, few of which allow for a deep enough look at the Queen of Soul. When Liesl Tommy’s Aretha Franklin ...