‘Better Man’ review: All hail Robbie Williams, a chimp for all seasons

Cheers to Robbie Williams. The English singer-songwriter who made the leap from boy band to tabloid goal to record-breaking solo artist has delivered as soon as once more. Higher Man is a biopic that folds in hits from throughout his profession — together with “Angels,” “She’s the One,” and “Rock DJ” — to bolster the artist’s highs and lows. However Williams — in collaboration with author/director Michael Gracey (The Biggest Showman) — has performed one thing daring within the house of the music biopic, which has too typically proved achingly clichéd, pandering, or downright boring. He is turned himself right into a literal dancing monkey. 

Higher Man unfurls a story of Williams’ hardscrabble youth in Stoke-on-Trent, his bad-boy years within the British group Take That, his substance abuse points, rocky romance with a fellow pop star, movie star feuds, and household dramas, all whereas portraying the singer as a CGI chimpanzee within the vein of the Planet of the Apes reboots. At first, it might sound a cheeky gimmick (or cheeky monkey) meant to hook audiences with the sheer oddness of the selection. However Gracey nurtures this idea, weaving collectively a collaborative efficiency with actors and the legendary VFX studio Wētā FX to create a uniquely transferring portrait of an artist at conflict with himself. 

Whereas the cadences of Williams’ story fall into a well-recognized sample, permitting himself to be introduced as a literal animal brings a contemporary perspective and an enthralling mix of humor and vulnerability. This leads to the very best music biopic because the rousing splendor of Elton John’s Rocketman (which Gracey notably government produced). 

Who performs Robbie Williams in Higher Man? 

This can be a sophisticated query. Williams lends his voice to the narration, the phrases of which have been penned by Gracey, Oliver Cole, and Simon Gleeson from interviews with the sensational singer. Nonetheless, within the flesh, English actor Jonno Davies (Hunters) shoulders the position, mixing a physicality that’s half hulking chimpanzee and half swaggering intercourse image. Whereas everybody round him on set is in interval costume, Davies wore a motion-capture go well with with a small digital camera perched above his face to trace his expressions. From there, Wētā constructed chimp Robbie utilizing Williams’ personal eyes (and numerous hairstyles) as inspiration. And the ultimate contact: a voice that mixes Davies’ and Williams’ performances. All this blends seamlessly into a strong efficiency that is among the most stunning but riveting of the 12 months. 

Within the narration, Williams introduces himself with a smirking tone and a slew of insults which have been lobbed in opposition to him. Davies picks up that tough exterior with macho posturing, however complicates it with goofball bravado in churlish outbursts, juvenile gestures, and a self-pleasuring bit that is lewdly hilarious. However greater than humorous, Higher Man is riveting as a result of it embraces a warts-and-all strategy that does not draw back from Williams’ darkest moments. 

You may assume that scenes about drug use, infidelity, and self-harm could be undercut by this furry gimmick. However by the tip of the primary sequence — wherein a younger Robert (Jack Sherran) has a tough day on the playground — the chimp system is sensible. The animation Wētā created is so emotive, the efficiency behind it so grounded, that it simply works, not solely in moments of drama, but in addition in really epic musical numbers. 

Higher Man is full of showstopping track and dance. 

Michael Gracey directs Raechelle Banno on the set of Paramount Photos’ “Higher Man.”
Credit score: Paramount Photos

As in Rocketman, Gracey employs songs anachronistically. For example, Take That is rise to fame is backed by “Rock DJ,” which is successful from Williams’ solo profession. This isn’t a glitch however a function, as each movies concentrate on the sensation of their story over cumbersome info. This freedom to play Williams’ hits as they make sense within the story (versus after they got here in his life) permits for electrifying sequences of pleasure, agony, and romance. 

Within the case of “Rock DJ,” the younger band celebrates their report deal by dancing collectively by way of a number of areas, from posh retailers and double-decker buses to the streets of Piccadilly Circus, amassing an increasing number of revelers alongside the best way till the entire of London seems to share of their reveling. Whereas that is maybe probably the most formidable musical sequence, among the many most transferring is “She’s the One,” the place chimp Robbie performs a heartfelt duet whereas dancing a Golden Period ballroom quantity and dipping his feminine companion (Raechelle Banno) with eloquence that’s completely swoon-worthy. Sure, even when the main man is a chimp. 

Nonetheless, not each track is a celebration. And it is in moments of tension that Higher Man’s monkey gambit is most impactful. 

Robbie Williams’ self-saboteur is made literal.

Chimp Robbie Williams performs in “Higher Man.”
Credit score: Paramount Photos

Embracing the visible language of music movies (of which Gracey has directed many), Higher Man blends practical settings with surreal eventualities. So a automobile crash within the rain leads to a nightmare sequence the place chimp Robbie is plunged underwater, then swarmed by followers who tear at him for mementos and paparazzi whose blinding cameras make his wrestle to the floor all of the tougher. Extra conventional moments are within the combine, like a montage of Williams’ journal covers and music movies to chart his rising fame. However what is likely to be a barrage of nostalgic or clichéd live performance scenes is given contemporary blood by way of bringing extra chimp Robbies into body. 

When he seems to be out into the group roaring in appreciation, amongst them he sees himself, scowling. At first, it is one or two of his personal faces staring again at him. However as Robbie’s self-doubt grows, his self-saboteur, who hisses he is a failure, a fraud, unlovable, multiplies and turns into legion. The sharp cuts from the dancing chimp together with his performative grin to the snarling doppelgängers, all reminders of a humiliation or failure, hit like a puff. Even when the world appears to be at his toes, Robbie is working from himself. And this builds to an inner conflict made exterior by way of a brilliantly vicious battle scene  that offers Planet of the Apes a run for its cash. 

This poignant use of CGI animation can also be surrounded by a terrific supporting forged. Whether or not it’s Steve Pemberton as Williams’ conniving deadbeat dad or Alison Steadman as his devoted grandmother, the actors carry a pulsing authenticity that makes this household, damaged as it’s, really feel achingly actual. That is all of the extra spectacular contemplating they have been performing reverse an actor carrying all that mo-cap gear. Collectively, forged and crew construct a wonderful complicated look into the life a world-class entertainer whose vanity and vulnerability are on balanced show. The result’s a movie that feels grandiose, outrageous, deeply private, and joltingly relatable. It’s Billy Elliot meets Rocketman meets Planet of the Apes. And it’s a lot extra. 

Wealthy in vibrant emotion, body-rocking musical numbers, daring performances, and a scorching tenderness, Higher Man greater than rocks. It guidelines. 

Higher Man was reviewed out of its Canadian Premiere on the 2024 Toronto Worldwide Movie Competition. Paramount has acquired distribution rights; a launch plan is TBD.