Actors will love Liesl Tommy’s Aretha Franklin biopic “Respect.” Thirteen years after the Queen of Soul first approached Jennifer Hudson, who had just won her “Dreamgirls” Oscar, with the idea of playing her in a movie, “Respect” wrapped filming in February 2020, one month before lockdown.
MGM decided to push back the movie from December 2020 to August 13, 2021, to give it a chance to play in theaters.Judging from the way “Respect” played Saturday night at the Bruin Theatre in Westwood to (masked and vaccinated) members of the Screen Actors Guild nominating committee, the studio made the right choice to favor an exclusive theatrical release.
Broadway director Tommy has mounted a solid crowdpleaser, written by Tracey Scott Wilson, that will satisfy generations of Franklin fans.
And ageless 39-year-old singer-actress Hudson, who plays Franklin from her teens through her acclaimed 1972 gospel concert “Amazing Grace,” is on her way to a second Oscar nomination.
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