Movie Review: ‘Better Man’

by | Jan 9, 2025 | Featured Post, Movie Reviews, Movies | 0 comments


Greetings again from the darkness. There may have been a movie that surprised me more than this one during 2024, but off the top of my head, I can’t think of one. My expectations were low for a film based on the true story of a British boy band pop star whose music I wasn’t too familiar with … oh, and he’s played by a human-sized CGI chimp. Robbie Williams is the pop star, and though he has little popularity or recognition in the United States, his story is quite interesting … and certainly presented in a creative and entertaining manner by writer-director Michael Gracey (THE GREATEST SHOWMAN, 2017) and co-writers Simon Gleeson and Oliver Cole.

Calling young Robbie Williams an outcast is not done for dramatic effect. His troubled youth and home life morphed into an opportunity to join Take That, a boy band who hit it big in the 1990’s. Booze, drugs, and depression are too often part of the story for those who reach celebrity status, and that’s certainly the case with Williams … as is his infidelity while on tour, and his ‘Daddy issues’, thanks to a father (Steve Pemberton) who dumps the family to pursue his own flirtations with fame – yet never shying away from sprinkling in a bit of envy while lecturing his son. If you’ve always wanted to see Oasis insult and humiliate another pop star, your wish will come true, although we doubt neither Liam nor Noel are having to act much in the scene.

Robbie Williams himself answers the big question early on. This is how he sees himself: a performing monkey. And the monkey, though not real of course, does a terrific job of winning us over to the point where we no longer have that initial ‘what the heck’ look on our face. The reason this works is that director Gracey and subject Williams never back away from playing this approach as directly as it shows on screen. It may be a gimmick, but it’s not played for a final ‘gotcha’ moment.

The music is on full display here, and Williams’ performance at Knebworth is excellent, but the real showstopper is “Rock DJ”, which along with the montage, provides us with a bit of history lesson on Take That. It’s a world class film scene and one of the best of the year. The personal aspects may not play quite so well. The inner-band rivalry with Gary (Jake Simmonce), and the manner in which he treats his relationship with girlfriend and also famous Nicole Appleton (Raechelle Bano) make him out to be more of a beast (and less interesting) than the one performing on stage. Still, I don’t hesitate to proclaim this to be the best music biopic of the year featuring a CGI chimp in the lead role.

Opens in theaters on January 10, 2025

David Ferguson
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