Released at the end of 2024, ‘Better Man‘ could also be considered one of the first films of 2025, when it reaches mass distribution in the main international film markets. It is a very favorable period for musical films, films with music and films about music and musicians. In a way, it seems that a tradition of American films from the 1930s is coming back into fashion, in which musical interludes were very often present in films of all genres but especially in comedies. ‘Better Man‘ is the biopic of one of the stars of English pop music, Robbie Williams. The British seem to dominate this genre of rocker biographies. Michael Gracey, the film’s director and co-writer, is Australian by birth, but his career exploded in the UK. He is an expert in music videos and special effects and both talents are combined and used to their full potential in ‘Better Man‘. The result is a biographical film (and largely autobiographical, as Robbie Williams approved and collaborated with his voice in its creation) like I have never seen before and probably will not see again in the future. This year has good signs.
‘Better Man‘ tells the story of Robbie Williams’ life and career, but the brilliant trick of this film is that Williams is depicted as a chimpanzee animated by computer graphics effects. I don’t know whether the idea was his or only his, but it certainly had his approval and participation. Using a monkey to represent Robbie Williams, ‘Better Man‘ allows for a metaphorical representation of the singer’s perspective, who, as he is quoted, has always felt “less evolved than other people”. We follow the development of Robbie Williams’ personality from childhood, through the struggles for recognition, to the peaks of glory and the abysses of depression and drug addiction. The most powerful drug, which no rehab can get rid of, is the desire for affirmation and the thirst for glory. The family ties are complex, and each of the three members of his immediate family played an important role: the father, who is also a singer and entertainer, a role model for the kid but also a reason for heartbreak when he leaves the family; the mother, who protects him and constantly guides him; finally, the grandmother, who inspired him confidence and injected him with love, a character that all those who were raised and loved by such a grandmother will immediately recognize. We follow the child’s upbringing, the struggles of the teenager who enters the music industry early with the group Take That, its success and breakup, the singer’s affirmation as a solo artist, his great love, the success, the self-destruction, the comeback and the reconciliation.
If everything is artistically credible and intensely emotional, the performance is technical as well as artistic. Those who have seen the films in the “Planet of the Apes” series will immediately accept the convention, and connoisseurs of British pop music life will appreciate the documentary precision of the details. The CGI effects were designed and executed by Weta, the same special effects company that created Caesar in the last “Planet of the Apes” film series. The character is a mix of motion capture and CGI, with actor Jonno Davies lending his body and voice. Several of the scenes are formidable – those from the hero’s childhood or the single shot clip of the song “Rock DJ” filmed on the famous Regent Street in London, with dozens of locations and hundreds of characters. Others push good melodrama to the limits. Robbie Williams’ biographical trajectory, far from being ‘monkey business’, is similar to that of many stars who have become heroes of musical biopics – Freddie Mercury, Elton John, Amy Winehouse. This time, however, the ending is happy, at least for now. The singer was able to collaborate on his own biopic and this on the one hand gives authenticity, on the other hand validates with personal perspective a technical artifice that could easily have fallen into mannerism. The music is amazing and I became a Robbie Williams fan after viewing the movie. One of his hit songs is “Let Me Entertain You”. Viewers who will accept convention and allow to be entertained will exit happy from the viewing.