Imagine that you were watching the new Bob Dylan biopic, but Bob Dylan was played by a monkey. Also, none of the other characters are monkeys, it is not ever addressed that he is the only monkey and all of the musical numbers are sung by real-life Bob Dylan, who is voice acting as a monkey in a story about himself. What I just described is “Better Man,” but instead of Bob Dylan, the film focuses on Robbie Williams, the British boy band member turned solo superstar.
In an era of biopics, from “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “Back to Black” to “A Complete Unknown,” it is clear that Robbie Wiliams attempted to stand out amongst the crowd through this perhaps odd character choice of being represented by a monkey. What further helps “Better Man” is the human touch of the musician himself, as the film features songs and narration by Williams. He begins the story by saying how he has always felt “less evolved than other people,” and the film takes note, following the singer as an anthropomorphic chimpanzee. What is most peculiar is that the movie works; in fact, it works better than many other biopics.
Williams’ human touch and the non-human presentation successfully merge to create a decent story regarding self-esteem and the impacts of fame. Williams crafts a story about his own struggles, being very candid about his issues with drugs and alcohol along with his ambitious lifestyle and personality. It is surprisingly emotionally impactful — a little bit scary at times, but a decently entertaining romp.
Director Michael Gracey — who previously directed “The Greatest Showman” — uses his musical movie knowledge to great effect. Every musical sequence is coordinated and dazzling. In particular, “She’s the One,” which documents Williams’ relationship with Nicole Appleton (Raechelle Banno), stands out. Not only is the dancing phenomenal, done by Banno and Jonno Davis (as Robbie in motion capture), but the camera work is fluid and satisfying.
Before seeing this film, I did not know that I already knew some of Williams’ songs, which was a nice surprise. The sequence of “Rock DJ,” one of his most popular hits, was excellent. As far as the story goes, nothing was out of the ordinary. We witness Williams’ rise and fall in the boyband Take That (which inspired me to theorize about an eventual Zayn Malik movie) and his complicated relationship with Appleton and his family. The story might be where the movie needed the biggest touching-up.
Another point of critique is the film’s length, coming in at 135 minutes. There are pointless sequences within the runtime that seemed to contribute very little to the plot. For example, there were multiple scenes focusing on Williams’ childhood friend Nate, which seemed like they served no purpose other than documenting Williams’ erratic behaviors. The film attempts to juggle a lot of emotional characters and beats, including Appleton, Williams’ mom (Kate Mulvany), his grandma (Alison Steadman) and most of all, his absent father (Steve Pemberton). The story feels unpolished, focusing too much on superfluous details. However, there are still some gems, such as guest appearances from the Gallagher brothers of Oasis.
Although the story is muddled, the musical sequences are by far the best part of the film. While Robbie Williams’ music is not necessarily overly catchy or good enough on its own to completely carry a film of this stature, it does a more than acceptable job of showing off his musical talents. He describes himself as “cheeky” but clearly has a self-esteem issue. What may keep people from seeing this (and what is keeping it as a box-office bomb that is not even close to breaking even) is the initial premise. A biopic starring a monkey is weird and even borders on scary at certain points.
Throughout the film, Williams’ insecurities manifest as monkeys that stare back at him during musical numbers and appear on top of jarring, scary music. At one point, there is a big animated fight between all of Williams’ different monkeys. If this was a horror movie, the scene might have worked better, but it is a big clash of genres between a musical, a horror and a biography, all starring a monkey. Weird, right? It is alienating, but somehow, it contributes to the film’s overall themes of showbusiness vs. humanity.
“Better Man” was a good movie to see once, but I am not sure it has a lot of rewatchability. In the end, there was nothing particularly bad about the ultimate product — if you look past the fact he is a monkey.
