Popstar Robbie Williams gets the Hollywood biopic treatment – as a CGI monkey! Our review of Michael Gracey’s Better Man.
Biopics are all the rage in Hollywood, especially those retelling the stories of music superstars. Bohemian Rhapsody, Elvis and Rocketman are just a couple of recent examples of critically acclaimed music biopics that have convinced studio executives that there’s real business to be done with the tragic backstories of these icons.
It seems inevitable that Robbie Williams, perhaps the greatest British pop star, would get his own sooner rather than later. What none of us could have predicted was that Williams would be played by a CGI monkey in his biopic, Better Man.
Like most music biopics, Better Man tracks Williams’ life and troubles from his childhood to his redemption years. A young Robbie learns from his dad that if you don’t have it, you’re a nobody. A tad harsh, if you ask me. His father’s words prompt little Rob to look for approval and fame, both of which come in some form as he’s accepted into Take That.
Michael Gracey’s film rather traditionally follows the usual steps of any biopic, but the scale and care with which it’s done is remarkable. The rise and eventual fall of Williams is done with style and flair, but more importantly, Better Man feels like an honest portrayal of the pop star’s troubles. Gracey and Williams aren’t trying to hide the numerous mistakes Williams made and how he largely caused his own downfall.
In fact, Better Man is largely a tale of a man fighting his own demons, quite literally. One of the film’s biggest set pieces recreates Williams’ record-breaking Knebworth gig in 2003 and includes the man (well, monkey) battling all earlier versions of himself in an attempt to finally accept himself as he is. Another sequence saw the production shut down Regent Street in London to film a hugely impressive dance sequence set to ‘Rock DJ’. The film’s final 15 minutes are a rewarding emotional rollercoaster and you might very well need a tissue or two by the time credits start rolling.
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Williams provides the singing voice for his monkey counterpart, but otherwise he is portrayed by Jonno Davies via motion capture. The CGI works a lot better than you’d think and doesn’t come across gimmicky either. The approach here is similar to the Pharell Williams documentary Piece By Piece in which Pharrell’s story was told with Legos, but there’s another thematic layer to Williams rendered into ape form.
Better Man is a disarmingly vulnerable and wildly inventive biopic of one of the biggest popstars in the world. It’s so much better than a film with a CGI monkey dancing on Regent Street has any right to be, but Better Man gets all of its emotional beats right without forgetting that same flair that made Gracey’s The Greatest Showman so likeable. The biggest compliment this writer can give the film is that it made me listen to Williams’ discography during the journey home and have a new found appreciation for it, too.
Better Man is in UK cinemas 26th December.
