During his time in the spotlight, pop singer Robbie Williams fell into all of the typical rock star trappings of sex, drugs, and alcohol. And with the popularity of music biopics like Rocketman, Bohemian Rhapsody, and Back to Black, why not make a movie about his life, right? Well, someone did. But there’s a catch.
Better Man is the story of Williams’ rise to fame as a member of the boy band Take That, his dismissal from the group due to substance abuse and unruly conduct, and his eventual rise to success as a solo artist. All typical rock star movie stuff.
The thing is, in this movie, Williams is portrayed as a chimpanzee. In his own words, he’s showing the audience how he sees himself.
Surprisingly, this approach works. More than works, actually. It turns a rudimentary rock star biopic into something unique and worth watching. And despite what one might think, the chimp angle doesn’t really get old. In fact, by the time Robbie is singing “My Way” with his father during the movie’s epilogue, the viewer half expects simian Robbie to morph into human Robbie but hopes that he doesn’t. Because the chimp is what they want to see. Frankly, it’s the best part of the movie.
Director Michael Gracey (The Greatest Showman) co-wrote the screenplay for Better Man with Simon Gleason and Oliver Cole (both actors making their feature debut as writers), but with Williams playing himself (at least the voice), the pop star seems to have signed off on the story. And, indeed, everything at least seems to follow the public impression of his life fairly closely, warts and all. Williams may not be proud of some of the situations he put himself in over the years, but he at least seems to not be ashamed anymore. He owns his past. He even seems to find some humor in it.
As a musical, Better Man most closely resembles something like Rocketman, where the songs of the primary subject are not just used in diegetic ways, but also as full-blown production numbers. More than once, the cast breaks into song and dance routines, running around city streets or floating aboard luxury cruise ships like no one is watching. Or maybe like everyone is watching. It’s all quite a spectacle.
The problem is that Robbie Williams’ music is not nearly as recognizable (nor as good) as Elton John’s, so while the musical numbers are impressively shot and choreographed, they don’t quite have the kinetic energy or emotional impact as those in Rocketman. They’re just not as much fun, even with a monkey leading the festivities.
Now, the chimp thing is not all laughs and giggles. It does have its serious moments. As the movie goes on, Robbie starts to see his past self everywhere he goes, always as the chimp of course. Even this is somewhat humorous, as the chimp goes through bleached hair and shaved head phases just as the real Robbie did, but the symbolic imagery of Robbie’s illicit past chasing him is unmistakable. It all comes to a head in a Planet of the Apes-style scene as his troubled history catches up with him just as he happens to be playing the biggest show of his life at Knebworth. It’s outrageous, but it’s also kind of creepy. Just like the movie as a whole. Outrageous and creepy.
Maybe having a chimp as the focus would make every mediocre movie better. Would Madam Webb have benefited from a Dakota Johnson chimp lead? How great would Twisters have been if the “Tornado Wrangler” had a chimp on his team? What if Robert Zemeckis had used Here’s de-aging budget to turn Tom Hanks into a chimp? The possibilities are endless. Let’s hope this trend continues. Because in the case of Better Man, the chimp doesn’t exactly save it from mediocrity, but it at least makes the mediocrity more entertaining.
GRADE: C+
MPAA Rating: R for nudity, drug use, pervasive language, sexual content, and some violent content
Release Date: December 25, 2024 limited release, January 10, 2025 wide release
Running Time: 2 hours 11 minutes
Studio: Paramount Pictures
The post ‘Better Man’ Review: Robbie Williams’ Wild Biopic Swings Big appeared first on ShowbizJunkies.
0 Comments