That Robbie Williams Monkey Movie Made Me Cry

I’m not big on the whole crying thing, although as a fairly new dad I find I do it more now than I did when I was foot loose and fancy free. I say this because last night at a press screening for Robbie Williams “Better Man” I sat in a row of three guys sniffing weepily through the latter half of the film (Me, my +1, and some complete random probably writing this same sentence for their lesser publication).

The movie follows Robbie William’s life story so far and is co-written, co-produced and directed by beanie aficionado Michael Gracey (The Greatest Showman). Robbie’s cheeky infectious personality portrayed by Jonno Davies and layers of Weta Workshop magic easily carries the film with it’s irreverence even when it goes down the dark winding path all pop stars must walk eventually, drug abuse and depression.

 

 

The twist is an aesthetic one, portraying Robbie as a Planet of the Apes protagonist dropped into a musical biopic. It’s never commented on, and it never removes from the mood the movie is delivering. If Pharrell Williams can tell his story with lego than Robbie can be a performing monkey. It’s strength is that the constant presence of the fantastical presented as the mundane means that when the story hits an emotive moment big enough to deserve a song it never feels out of place when stuff starts flying everywhere. Occasionally the film strays into incredible looking symbolic dream states and segues out without breaking a sweat. But I hesitate to call this movie a musical, despite having musical beats and one or two dance numbers. I guess I associate musicals with grinding halts as a character belabors a single point. Better Man has places to be, and never lingers too long despite it’s 2 hours and 11 minute runtime.

I’m not a massive Robbie Williams guy, my one connection is owning a bootleg mp3 of Entertain You. Characters from the era wandered onscreen leading some fans in the audience to gasp with recognition long before the rest of us were caught up. With that said going in not knowing anything about the guy will not detract from the experience, you don’t need to be a fan to like, or even love this movie. At it’s core is a story that anyone can relate to, even if we don’t know what it’s like to need the approval of thousands of people in booked out arenas.

My only critique is that the one visual thread where he gets harassed by his doubts from the crowd (himself from previous eras, slowly banking up over the course of the film) is a little overplayed, but the payoff makes it worth it in the end.

Better Man has no right to exist, and it certainly has no right to be any good, but it’s both and I’m certainly not mad about it. Now I just need to convince everyone to check out the Robbie Williams Monkey Movie.