Better Man
The biopic rule has become rather mundane and uninteresting , make unnecessary for the few biopics that actually pull us in and dare to do something memorable . But for all their posturing , Better Manis perhaps the weirdest , cool biopic I ’ve seen in late computer memory — and most definitely in the least year . lead byThe Greatest Showman ’s Michael Gracey , Better Man , which follow the climb of British pop adept Robbie Williams , is a spectacle , with many sequences shoot like music videos . The spectacle does n’t stand for there ’s no kernel at the story ’s effect , and it keep me watching despite being overlong .
Cast
take aim by Michael Gracey , Better Man explore the life and career of singer Robbie Williams through his own eyes .
All I really knew about the film before seeing it was that Robbie Williams was being depict as an anthropomorphic chimp , a determination I found perplexing until Williams , via voiceover , tells us that we ’re to consider him as he sees himself . If that vocalize off - putt , that ’s because it is — at least at first . Better Manquickly establish that Williams , from his former day , does n’t consider very highly of himself and suffers from clinical depression , often wreak to life through Robbie ’s ( Jonno Davies in motion capture ) interior voices carry physical form as self - incarnation to berate him and make him lose focus .
Better Man Is An Impressive Musical Spectacle
Musical Numbers & A Unique Portrayal Of Robbie Williams Make It An Immersive Experience
The biopic does n’t sham its audience lie with the details of Williams ’ lifetime , but the rise of the vocaliser ’s 90s male child band , Take That , sadly and unsurprisingly keep up interchangeable ebbs and period of other such music group . It ’s enough to be familiar while offer us a behind - the - scene look at Williams himself , who shin with his daddy ’s ( Steve Pemberton ) absence in his life and whose dependency to fame turned into an dependence to drug . The film turns the mirror on Williams as it emphasise how he is n’t always the best person , particularly to the of import people in his life .
Williams becomes a figure who is simultaneously sympathetic and frustrating . He ’s a blemished person , and , at the beginning of his career , a vernal one who wanted renown more than anyone else if it perhaps mean that he could understand what drew his dad , Peter , also a singer , to liveliness onstage and away from his family . Williams posits that changing his name from Robert to Robbie — courtesy of Take That ’s manager , Nigel Martin - Smith ( a consistently sour - looking Damon Herriman ) — allowed him to hide behind it .
I was n’t expect to be so captivated by every moment and yet I could n’t look away and sense something .
And we see that shift aright before he run short onstage , from that of a forlorn young valet to a performer who ’s all too well-chosen to bring the celebrity plot . At the same time , Better Mandoesn’t coddle its subject . Even the conclusion to visualize him onscreen as a chimp rather than as a human sound out a flock about Williams and Gracey , who , along with atomic number 27 - writers Simon Gleeson and Oliver Cole , are n’t afraid to turn over into the psychological aspects beyond the sensationalism . I was n’t expecting to be so beguile by every moment and yet I could n’t appear away and find something .
Beyond the personal and psychological , Better Manexcels because it leans into the spectacle of a pa star ’s life . When Williams falls in love with Nicole Appleton ( Raechelle Banno ) , of All Saints fame , the pair duet Williams ’ cover of “ She ’s the One ” and trip the light fantastic toe on a racing yacht . The dance stage dancing , redaction , and cinematography by Erik A. Wilson are exceptional , offering a Champagne-Ardenne - alike colouring and amatory mood that is filmed to showcase the quickness of Robbie and Nicole ’s tenderness . It ’s later shattered by a montage that reveal the tragical realities that happen thereafter , but it ’s no less moving in the consequence .
Other moments , like Take That ’s rise to renown , is filmed like a rousing , striking music video . Costume change , choreography , and great use of the London street elevate the biopic from something tenacious and run - of - the - mill to something effusive and entertaining . Just as Robbie Williams has entertained us for decades , his biopic does the same , only here he ’s openly afraid of being thought a fraud . This sentiment interpenetrate the entire film and , though it could have focalize on the sensationalist view and kept it at that , it does n’t rest on its laurels .
It boasts the creativeness of something likePiece by Piece , which documented Will Pharrell ’s sprightliness through a LEGO Earth , butBetter Manhas more depth to commend it beyond the simple-minded agitation that come from doing something different . If there ’s one complaint I have about the film is that it ’s too long , indulging a bit in the second half when it could have cut some of the repetitiveness of Williams snorting cocaine . There ’s only so much we can watch of it before it starts to drop back .
Mary Harron ’s American Psycho is still a masterclass in suspense and faithful adaptation , though Christian Bale ’s performance is still the highlighting .
Luckily , it ’s not enough to deter from the film ’s very many creative attributes . It recite a cohesive level filled with lush visuals and extraordinary musical setpieces that make it an immersive watch . I walked away fromBetter Manfeeling a turn vexed that I had n’t check it sooner . Now that I have , I feel the need to sing its praises . Who knew thata melodic biopicstarringa CG - invigorate chimp as Robbie Williamswould vibrate this much ? I certainly did n’t and I hope that you ’re just as surprised and entranced by this fantastically strange and unique project as I was .
Directed by Michael Gracey, Better Man explores the life and career of singer Robbie Williams through his own eyes.
Better Manis in nationwide dramatics on January 10 . The film is 134 minute foresightful and rated R fordrug use , permeant language , intimate content , nudity and some wild depicted object .
