Better Man movie review. A satirical biopic-musical about Robbie Williams as a monkey

Robbie Williams is one of the most famous contemporary pop artists, whose life seems to have absorbed all the stereotypes about famous musicians. Scandalous romantic relationships, drug problems, conflicts with colleagues in the music industry, and a constant search for ways to develop through suffering and struggle - it seems that all these topics have been explored by various works of fiction more than once, and Williams' biography cannot add anything fundamentally new to this layer. Therefore, the news about the start of production of a biopic about the musician, if anything, aroused interest, but only the most cautious.

However, turning the protagonist into a literal monkey is an interesting enough move to lure viewers to the theaters. And for their interest, they will receive one of the best films about a music career, the price of success, and ambitions that can destroy even the strongest bonds. Better Man doesn't aim to be a masterpiece, but it doesn't need to be.

Better Man tells the story of Robbie Williams' life: from the time when he was a boy full of desperate dreams of fame, Robert, to almost the present day. The nuance is that Robbie is depicted in the film as an anthropomorphized monkey played and voiced by Jonno Davis. At the same time, Williams himself narrates the story in his own voice, and he sings almost all the songs himself. The singer's path to success may seem too easy, even unfair to some. But it was precisely this "easy going" attitude that led to many problems for Robbie, who had to struggle with imposter syndrome and inner demons for almost his entire life.

The fact that you, as a viewer, will actually have to watch an intelligent monkey for more than two hours ceases to be confusing from the first minute of viewing. Yes, you might think that in this way the film crew saved Robbie Williams' time and the resources of the entire production, because the performer's schedule is extremely tight. However, the image of the monkey is an interesting artistic device that also resonates with the singer's inner state. After all, he often considers himself to be worse than others, and all the posturing and outrageousness is just a method of escaping from himself.

Robbie Williams' tumultuous life became the perfect foundation for Gracie's fantasy, so every moment with music in Better Man is a storm of emotions and almost real ecstasy. Moreover, the film crew managed to make each musical scene unique in terms of artistic means, impact on the viewer and disclosure of the protagonist's emotional and even physical state. Williams' cheerful music, which the singer partially re-recorded especially for the movie, only positively affects the overall experience. Believe me, after watching the movie, you will definitely want to listen to the musician's discography - or get acquainted with it for the first time.

The CGI monkey as the main character also allows us to show decades of Williams' life without the hassle of makeup and actors. Because Better Man is still a biopic. But as a biopic, it feels somewhat bland, and the genre even slightly damages the emotional layer of the story. At the moments when you could potentially stop and reflect on the events, the plot is forced to move forward quickly. High dynamics usually benefit such stories, but the biography of Robbie Williams on the big screen is a rare exception to the rule.

The film works much better as a neutral story about the weight of ambition and popularity that can destroy a happy life. The fact that the events in the movie are completely real only improves the impact on the viewer. But, frankly, even though people like to compare Williams to Frank Sinatra, the former's life lacks epochal and monumental significance. Robbie's story is still being written, so the biopic doesn't feel like something too important. In some places, it even seems banal.

The singer himself has repeatedly said that he was created to entertain people, so Better Man is primarily entertainment that does not pretend to be complex. It is a bright, sincere, rough movie in a good way, which hides warm and even nostalgic meanings under a riot of colors and sounds. You don't have to like or even know the musician to enjoy watching it. And this is not so often the case in stories about famous performers.