Joel Miller

The opening 20 minutes were great. The young singer/actress, Skye Dakota Turner, who played young Aretha was fantastic: a really strong singer and nuanced and skillful actress. The rest of the film got pretty boring and the music wasn't strong enough to save it from its pointless story. On the positive side, some of the actors did pretty well. Strong performances from Audra McDonald, Forrest Whitaker, Marlon Wayans, Marc Maron. The film has a good look as well. Great photography, undermined at times by weird editorial/directorial choices; amazing production design and costumes and styling.