“Good evening, everybody! My name is Robbie Williams. This is my band, and for the next two hours, YOUR ASS IS MINE!”
I was really intrigued with the film’s concept. After all, every year musical biopics are released, and they can sometimes seem like they are all following the same blueprint, which, needless to say, makes it rather difficult for them to stand out. Better Man bucks that trend by instead of opting for an actor with a passing resemblance to the subject, rather depicting the subject as a chimpanzee, which was inspired by Robbie Williams’ own perception of himself as a “performing monkey”. If that doesn’t make this film stand out, I don’t know what will. This also has the added benefit of allowing Williams to voice the character himself, which in my opinion adds a layer of authenticity to this biopic. After all, who better to tell their life story than the person themself?
To be honest, I had to look up who Robbie Williams was. I not exactly versed in English singers. For those in a similar boat, allow me to give you a brief rundown: he is an English singer and songwriter who found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, before launching a solo career in 1996. He’s received a record 18 Brit Awards, winning Best British Male Artist four times, Outstanding Contribution to Music twice, an Icon Award for his lasting impact on British culture, eight German ECHO Awards, and three MTV European Music Awards. In 2004, he was inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame after being voted the Greatest Artist of the 1990s. He has sold 75 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time.
Now that we have covered his accomplishments, let’s talk about Better Man, which is essentially the telling of his life story. By his own words, Williams’ lifelong dream was to be famous, which is illustrated from the film’s opening when the character in ape from shares with his grandmother his fear of being a nobody. Much of this fear stems from his relationship with his father, who also dreamed of the spotlight, though it never happens for him, and he was forced to settle for living vicariously through is son. This remains a recurring theme of the father-son dynamic until things come to a head midway through the film when jealousy threatens to destroy their relationship. For me, this moment is among my favorites, as it is an emotional arc for the film as the characters are forced to confront their differing opinions and self-worth.
“You’ve always been there for Robbie Williams, dad. Why couldn’t you just be there for Robert?”
While it wasn’t traditionally my genre of music, I did enjoy several of the featured songs, particularly “Rock DJ,” which was upbeat, and its accompanying sequence very adequately showcased the change in trajectory for the band from an upstart to being propelled into stardom. And on queue and as expected, this would lead to the inevitable lead to struggles with self-doubt, battles with their manager, Nigel Martin-Smith, drug abuse, and him eventually leaving, or rather being fired from Take That.
Video
Better Man is presented in an aspect ratio of 2.39:1. The ultra-high-definition 2160p image is arrived at by an HEVC codec with an average bitrate of 75 mbps. Here’s my big problem with the image presentation. They filmed the movie in 35mm, which is a natural 4K shoot. That leaves us with a bit of grain that makes the film more dynamic and helps blending the CG character with the rest of the movie. But they mastered the digital intermediate at only 2K, which then is upconverted to 4K, and that doesn’t compute for me. Likely this UHD release was an afterthought. The film did very poorly at the box office, and I’m frankly surprised that it was given the UHD release. That’s the only explanation that my brain can handle. We’re still talking a very nice image here, but it likely could have been much better. Black levels are average, but there is some nice texture to the film from the glossy bubblegum-card boy-band days to the more visceral moments in the film; the texture truly aligns these worlds nicely. Colors pop when they are intended to, and detail remains quite impressive.
Audio
The Dolby Atmos audio presentation defaults to 7.1. Of course, the music sells the film, and that has to be crystal clear and dynamic. I’d say they did a very impressive job on that score. The concert footage truly brings you into that kind of environment so that the chimp singing becomes natural after a time and not as distracting as I expected. Subs aren’t quite what I might have hoped for, but there is enough bottom end here to feel a rather full sound. Dialog cuts through just fine.
Special Features
The extras are found on each disc.
Let Me Entertain You – The Making Of Better Man: (32:08) This is a pretty solid behind the scenes feature that spends a lot of time on production design and the motion capture process. we get a great look at how some of the more iconic scenes came together.
Monkey Business – The VFX: (15:21) This is exactly what you expect it to be. More focus on the f/x processes here.
Final Thoughts:
The film then takes a turn in Robbie’s personal struggles in spite of his growing fame. This culminates in a Knebworth Festival in which his antics reach a fever pitch and impact his mental health. He sees himself battling his various past selves, including his child self. This introspection of the film was resonant with other biopics for me, particularly Rocketman, in which Sir Elton is forced to confront his own demons. However, I will say this introspection took a much more violent turn. And as expected, things eventually return to a more uplifting tone, accompanied by quite possibly my favorite of all the songs and the film’s namesake. This doesn’t exactly get it out of the realm of the Rocketman comparisons, as that film did something very similar with I’m Still Standing. However, what I did appreciate was the film not ending it on that note and bringing things full circle with the opening narration for purpose of granting the audience catharsis and reaffirming Robbie William’s purpose to inspire and entertain.
