Michael's Movie Grade: B+
An excellent biopic.
I'll start this review off with the most obvious praise. The music is fantastic. There is a reason that Aretha Franklin's music is so revered, it is incredible music that moved audiences when first released and will continue to do so for as long as people continue to hear it. Though no one can replace Aretha, Jennifer Hudson does an incredible job with these songs and reminds us why we love them so much. Aretha Franklin personally picked Hudson to play this role and when you hear her perform these songs, you will quickly understand why. This is not to say that she is not impressive in the dramatic scenes, because she does a truly great job with them. However I must also give equal credit to child actress Skye Dakota Turner (in her film debut) who does a fantastic job playing Aretha as a young girl. She does not have an easy role to play here, but her performance captures the emotion of these scenes perfectly. What I also really appreciated about this movie is that the characters felt real. I admit to not being an expert on Aretha's personal life, so I don't know how much they are like the real people. Still I bought into the reality of these characters perfectly. The characters have both major faults and really likable traits as well instead of being the simple cardboard good or bad highlights they could be. After so many biopics which makes some people simple black and white villains or heroes, this is very refreshing. Many of the emotional moments in this film work quite well, and some are legitimately moving.
Like many biopics, this movie does have the problem that you can not tell this whole story in one movie. Because of this certain elements can feel rushed or not fully played out (Aretha's involvement in the Civil Rights movement is a major example of this). The film can also jump from one element of the story to another with a real abrupt feeling.
All in all this is an excellent if faulted biopic. -Michael J. Ruhland
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