The Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin has inspired many generations, but now is the time to share her life story of struggles and triumphs on the big screen in the new movie Respect. Movie reviewer Greg Russell sat down with Jennifer Hudson and first-time film director Liesl Tommy to talk about the film.
Hudson understood the pressure of being handpicked by the Queen herself. Even meeting Franklin was a dream come true for Hudson, and portraying Franklin put pressure on her, but Hudson said it was exciting to become the Queen of Soul.
On the other hand, Tommy has done work for Broadway, and for this being her first film directing, she felt that she’d been prepping for it her whole career. Tommy said she likes to do things with scope, glamour, and music.
Russell threw confetti as he gave the film 5 out of 5 reels calling Hudson’s performance “Oscar-worthy.”
Ryan Reynolds is also returning to the big screen this weekend in Free Guy. Reynolds portrays Guy, a background character in a video game called Free City, which will soon be going offline.
Russell called it a nice, fun, breath of fresh air to laugh at, and pointed out how well Reynolds pokes fun at himself, which makes the films he does so much better.
Watch the full video above of reviews.