Music makes 'Respect' sing but the Aretha Franklin biopic feels phony

Even if you don't know Aretha Franklin's story, you can guess every second of "Respect."

Starring Jennifer Hudson, "Respect" follows the template of music biopics (struggles/stardom/addiction/redemption), seemingly determined to be "What's Love Got to Do With It, Too." Like Tina Turner, Franklin survived an abusive relationship with an early musical/romantic mentor but called the shots herself in a triumphant career resurgence. It's not that the lives of virtually every singer given the musical biography treatment were similar; it's that the movies make them seem that way.

"Respect" begins when Aretha is 10 and her dad summons her to sing for an unintentionally hilarious house party with only famous guests: Uncle Art (Tatum), Aunt Dinah (Washington, who will eventually do a table flip worth of "The Real Housewives of Suburban Detroit"), Uncle Duke (Ellington), Uncle Sam (Cooke). None of these people will be important characters but they get things off to an awkward start as Aretha greets them by name, more like a Vegas lounge singer acknowledging the famous names in the audience than a kid who mostly just wants to get back to bed.

Screenwriter Tracey Scott Wilson opts for the include-everything biopic approach, which makes for melodrama without much context, but some scenes are fascinating. Franklin's trip to Muscle Shoals studios, for instance, shows both the shift away from early career missteps (her label wanted her to be a young Ella Fitzgerald) to rhythm-and-blues, while also insisting that her taste should guide her music. There's also a touching scene when Franklin, estranged from her family, comes home to recover from setbacks. There's a lot to say but her grandmother simply hugs her and says, "You hungry?"

It's the kind of beautiful, simple moment the overblown "Respect" needs more of. The good news is that even when the dialogue doesn't ring true, just about every song does. The scenes when producer John Hammond (Tate Donovan) tries to make her ape Fitzgerald are especially good. Hudson gives the '30s standards her best effort, like a pro would, but reveals the discomfort Franklin felt and the hesitation to commit fully to music that she sang as a kid but no longer spoke to her.

A cliché you'd probably expect to see in "Respect" is the scene where musicians spontaneously create a classic, as if it materialized out of thin air. That may be the way these things really happen but it generally rings false. Here, it works, both in the Muscle Shoals scene and when Franklin, at a piano, improvises her take on the title song.

"Respect" also capably re-creates Franklin's decision to put her life back on track by recording with "father of gospel" James Cleveland and a choir. Tituss Burgess gives an unexpectedly moving performance as Cleveland and the music is powerful.

On the other hand, it's odd to re-create these scenes just two years after "Amazing Grace," the film that documented Franklin and collaborators creating the bestselling gospel album of all time.

If you really want to show Franklin some R-E-S-P-E-C-T, that's the movie to watch.

Chris Hewitt • 612-673-4367

Respect
⋆⋆ out of four stars
Rating: PG-13 for strong language, violence and smoking.
Theater: Wide release.