BETTER MAN

USA | 2024 | 131m | English

Cast: Kate Mulvany, Damon Herriman, Alison Steadman

Director(s): Michael Gracey

Better Man begins with young Williams watching his father’s dreams of music stardom swirl around like dust in their cramped sitting room. He absorbs his father’s ambitions — and his crippling self-doubt — but the boy has talent.

Before long he has joined teen idols Take That and they stomp up the charts in a series of showstopping musical numbers. But money and fame bring more doubt, and Williams — played as an adult by actor Jonno Davies — learns the corrosive art of self-sabotage.

Courtesy of TIFF

TIFF 24 REVIEW BY: DARREN ZAKUS

DATE: SEPTEMBER 13, 2024

RATING: 2.5 out of 5

Better Man may feature some truly spectacular musical numbers executed with an exceptional flair by director Michael Gracey to give Robbie Williams’ songs the big screen treatment they deserve, but a CGI monkey derails any emotional connection to Robbie Williams’ life story and makes what could have been a fun gimmick an emotional barrier to the entire film.

With countless music biopics being made today, new films being made in the genre are being challenged to bring something new to the table rather than the standard structure that, while tried and proven, is overused. Some films in the genre have succeeded in reinventing the genre, such as Dexter Fletcher’s Rocketman which blended a fantastical musical element with the life story of Elton John, and Michael Gracey tries to reinvent the genre once again while tackling the life story of Robbie Williams. To do so, instead of having a live action portrayal of Robbie Williams, Williams becomes a CGI monkey in this live action musical that he himself voices, which is certain to be a talking point for viewers. What ensues, while expertly directed by Gracey and delivering some outstanding musical numbers, is a baffling musical biopic that hampers any emotional connection due to a monkey that makes this feel like a Planet of the Apes musical.

Gracey has directed many music videos and the fan favourite film The Greatest Showman, making him well versed in the world of music and the perfect choice for a musical biopic, and his background in visual effects makes him the right director to juggle a CGI monkey being thrown into the mix. Because of this, it comes as no surprise that the film got massive rounds of applause mid movie during its international premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival this week, as the majority of the musical numbers are outstanding. Bursting with an uncontrollable energy, the musical numbers feature impressive choreography from Ashley Wallen (who also collaborated with Gracey on The Greatest Showman), hundreds of extras dancing in unison, and impressive camera work and lighting to place the audience in the middle of the moment; with songs like “Rock DJ”, “She’s the One” and “Angels” become showstopping musical numbers that are every musical lover’s dream.

With Williams being a monkey in the film, visual effects play a vital part in the film’s success, and the final product looks great. With the team at WETA in charge of animating the monkey through motion capture, there is a lifelike element to the monkey akin to the recent Planet of the Apes films. Jonno Davies, who performs the motion capture for the film, does an incredible job in the role both emoting to capture Williams’ emotional journey over the course of the film as well as executing the dance choreography with a precision that makes the audience believe that a monkey can really dance like a human.

But, as impressive as the monkey looks, it is also the film’s biggest problem. In a world full of human characters, the monkey sticks out like a sore thumb and causes the film to miss the typical performance of the music biopic where an actor gets lost in the role and transforms into the artist who is the subject of the film, which is always the highlight of these films. We’ve seen it time and time again with memorable performances from Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury, Taron Egerton as Elton John, Rene Zellweger as Judy Garland and Joaquin Phoenix as Johnny Cash, and monkey Robbie Williams just doesn’t have the same effect on the audience. The story itself feels too similar to the majority of the vast majority of music biopics, and the screenplay fails to present it in a manner that isn’t a paint by number biopic blueprint. It’s not dig at Williams’ life story, which is one of struggle and perseverance, but with a monkey in place of him, it becomes hard for the audience to emotionally connect to his story as it doesn’t feel real. Even with the film ending with a beautiful performance by Williams of the classic tune “My Way” in what should have been an incredibly emotional moment, it fell completely flat. Furthermore, with Williams voicing the monkey and being heavily involved in the film’s development, it feels too controlled, self-indulgent and designed to give the audience a very specific view on him and not a more honest view that could have been present if the film’s subject was not as involved in every aspect of the film.

It’s rare for this reviewer not to love a musical, and not even the talented Michael Gracey at the helm of the film can salvage it, causing Better Man to fail to excel as a musical biopic. Despite some truly outstanding musical numbers that bring all the excitement and energy fans could ever want from the genre thanks to outstanding direction from Michael Gracey and choreography featuring hundreds of background dancers, notably with the divine “Rock DJ” sequence, Better Man is full of monkey business due to Robbie Williams being portrayed as a monkey which distracts from the emotional story that could have otherwise soared.