Wendy Newkirk

I thoroughly enjoyed Genius: Aretha. Since it did not have the blessing of the family, I understood that they could not have use of her biggest hits, but as I watched the series, I feel like I learned more about Aretha Franklin and her father. Does Cynthia Ervo look like Ms. Franklin - No, but I think she captured her essence by the end of the series, her vocal delivery was very Aretha-esqe. Courtney Vance, as always was outstanding. The young lady that play young Aretha was fabulous, as was the Omar Dorsey, who played James Cleveland. I didn't know much about any of them, but this made me want to explore and read more about Ms. Franklin. While no movie or miniseries can capture the fullness of Ms. Franklin's very complex life, I thought this was a good undertaking and at the end of the day Cynthia Ervo did an amazing job, in my opinion. What it tells you is there will only be one Aretha Franklin and she is a hard act, but well-done Ms. Ervo. I will watch it again and I eagerly await Jennifer Hudson's take on Ms. Franklin life.