Amazing Grace

2019 concert video

Rating: 15/20

Plot: Aretha Franklin sings some gospel songs at a church.

1) The introduction has Aretha's friend James Cleveland introducing her as a woman who could sing "3 Blind Mice" and make it good. By the end of this, I was really disappointed that I didn't get to hear her rendition of that one.

2) I have no real interest in Aretha Franklin, but I figured I'd watch this after seeing Obama's list of favorite movies of the year and realizing how much I missed having a real president. Watching Amazing Grace became an anti-Trump act, so I put it on and played it fucking loud! I kind of figured I might do some other things while it was on, but I was transfixed the second she opened her mouth and started making words happen.

3) And moved. It's too bad the titular gospel song appears at the end of the first of two nights because the movie peaked then and nothing on the second night matched it. Watching the response of the crowd, the choir behind her, and James Cleveland made me weep. But as Cleveland said, "If I seem a little misty, it's just cause I'm happy."

4) Mick Jagger seemed to dig it, too. At first, I was only joking to my family that I saw him in the congregation, but a later shot confirmed that it was actually him.

5) One of the choir dudes, a little bespectacled fellow who looks like he might be Indian, really stands out. The guy seemed like to love the camera, and by golly, the camera loved him as well.

6) This is one of two documentaries from this year (the other I'll write about in a few minutes) that showcases what human beings are capable of better than anything I've seen in a long time. Aretha Franklin could work magic with that voice.