Whatever he means to other parts of the world — his UK homeland in particular — the pop star Robbie Williams falls somewhere on the “Remember him?” to “Who?” sliding scale here in the U.S.
So maybe the idea of a boy band member turned early 2000s solo act, a crooning, dancing and lyrics-writing “entertainer” in the Justin Timberlake/Michael Jackson mold being worthy of a bio pic seemed like a no brainer across the pond. It might be a film that “travels” as they say.
But I saw “Better Man,” with my fiance on opening night in the United States. We were an audience of two.
And while the occasionally familiar if not exactly immortal or even “memorable” song wafts off the soundtrack of “Better Man,” this isn’t “A Complete Unknown,” “Rocketman” or even “Get On Up” in terms of a portrait of a fascinating, complex and major artist who remade the (English language mostly) pop world.
“Rick Rolled: The Rick Astley Story” has more appeal, if not more cachet. “Adele: Having the Last Laugh” would seem more worthy.
But Williams’ clever-not-“brilliant” conceit for conceiving his hardscrabble (ish) life story is that he’d be played “as I see myself,” a not-particularly attractive CGI monkey extra from “Planet of the Apes.” We can infer that his idea that he’s a “trained monkey” or that he sees himself as just not-that-attractive, a maddeningly insecure pop singer who ventured from boy band background singer/dancer to pop-charts-dominating superstar. It’s a humbling way for this “The Ego Has Landed” icon to approach his life story.
Yes, it’s a gimmick but a clever one, a singer singing to massive crowds, but always as a simian singer, always seeing a version of his chimp self out in the mob, doubting and causing him to question his worthiness of the fame he always sought and the talent he never really doubted.
But what does working class Robert “Robbie” Williams of Stoke-on-Trent do with this CGI version of himself (dancing actor Jonno Davies does the motion capture “acting” for the ape), narrating his $110 million version of his life story? Why, he tells us of his desire to be “famous,” his descent into drugs, cheating with every English-speaking pop starlet on the planet, the “nan” (granny) who always believed in him, the aspiring singing-joking-emceeing “entertainer” dad who abandoned him and the boy band (Take That) that kicked him out before he “showed them” his true value to the masses.
Talk about tried and true and trite.
After the first blush of how cute this conceit is, this called-to-perform, fame-craving, spotlight-hogging Robert “Robbie” is wracked by insecurites even as he’s playing the British inspiration for Coachella — Knebworth — talking up audience sizes like an insecure, crooning Trump. “Better Man” becomes a simple catalog of pop stardom clichés
James Bond Aston Martin parked in front of the mansion he trashes in stoned, insecure rages? Check. “Nan” (Alison Steadman) who supported his dream, but whose dying moments he missed? Check. Involved with a girl group (Raechelle Banno) star from All Saints? Check…and mate.
The movie is a gloss of a life, not an in-depth portrait. If you sit through this slick, long, grim and utterly predictable bio-pic and ask yourself “And this ‘wanker’ is worthy of a bio-pic why?” you won’t be alone.
Steve Pemberton plays the Sinatra-worshipping, Music-Hall-missing emcee, the comic/”singer” dad who instilled in young Robert the need to “be famous,” to matter, to “have it” and “light-em-up (show off, onstage and off).”
It’s not enough to love what you do.
“What matters is other people loving you doing it!”
Kate Mulvany plays the long-suffering mother who indulges her soon-fatherless son’s dreams of trying out for a boy band, and becoming famous and all the downside that fame offers for her and him.
Damon Harriman plays that always-hated/mocked first manager, casting director for Take That who appreciates Robert’s “cheeky” attitude enough to cast him in a band where he’s just sung an audition song so far removed from the pop charts as to make one question what century the 15 year-old boy lives in.
We glimpse boy band rivals who hold Robert (renamed Robbie for Take That) back, the gay clubs touring to teen-girl shift in appeal, manufactured by that first manager. And we get Williams’ rock star version of earning the right to be kicked out of that “band.”
What we don’t get is anything particularly revealing. Bisexual? Seriously involved with a couple of Spice Girls? Copulating his way to fame/telling tales in interviews, etc? Skipped or skimmed-over.
This is very much the Robbie Williams-narrated and “officially approved” version of his life story. And for all the terrific dance numbers, the scenes of the chimp alter-ego version of “Robbie” behaving badly, this is never the least bit revealing, never a movie that reinvents the musical bio-pic genre.
They hired visual effects specialist and music video director (and co-writer) Michael Gracey and spent all this money to simian-ize their “star.” And they voice-over-narrate it to death and censor/embellish/omit/”shine” it into an unsurprising genre pic more worthy of Justin Bieber than the British Justin Timberlake.
Rating: R, drug abuse, self-harm, near nudity, profanity, constant smoking
Cast: Robbie Williams, Jonno Davies, Steve Pemberton, Raechelle Banno, Tom Budge, Damon Harriman, Kate Mulvany, Alison Steadman.
Credits: Directed by Michael Gracey, scripted by Simon Gleeson, Oliver Cole and Michael Gracey. A Paramount release.
Running time: 2:14
