It’s not every day you go to church for a séance, but that’s
what this film has set itself up to be. Released for audience consumption after
the tragic death of its main subject, this documentary is the live recording
of Aretha’s album of the same name, a work that remains the most commercially
successful live gospel album of all time and a substantial part of the Aretha
catalogue. Between its lightning-in-a-bottle framing, its backing by the likes
of Spike Lee’s 40 Acres And A Mule Filmworks, and its direction by legendary
filmmaker Sydney Pollack, this looks to be one hell of a concert flick. And
that it is but, for reasons I’ll get to, I can’t shake the feeling that
something is missing from all this.
