The British singer remakes the film of his life in a work that lives up to his legend, both sensitive and delirious.
Punctuated by breathtaking musical sequences, this story hides nothing of the gray areas of an artist whose texts take on another dimension on screen.
A simply unmissable experience, to be discovered at the cinema from this Wednesday, January 22.
An English pop star played by a monkey in computer-generated images with choreography to die for. On paper, Better Man has everything about the improbable project. But leaving the room, the verdict is final. What if Robbie Williams was finally the hero of the best biopic made in a long time?
Wildly inventive, the film stands out as a huge surprise that shakes up all the spectators’ senses. “I want to show you how I really see myself”immediately assures the singer who acts as narrator but gives way to an anthropomorphic chimpanzee to better tell his story.
Surprising yes, but devilishly effective. Because the animal is quickly forgotten, leaving room only for the poignant story of a man swallowed up by his dreams and the star system. The story of Robbie Williams is that of a teenager from Stoke-on-Trent, in the north of England, whose life changes when he is selected to join a boy band called Take That. At the age of 15, he toured nightclubs for increasingly well-attended concerts. At 21, he is as much addicted to alcohol as to psychotropic drugs that make him forget who he is.
Much more than entertainment
Better Man navigates the life of this British music legend while replaying highlights from his discography. The feature film gives increased power to its words, fully integrated into the story during musical sequences with the very careful staging of virtuoso director Michael Gracey. Already at the helm of the musical The Greatest Showman with Hugh Jackman, the Australian began his career by signing music videos.
You will be amazed by the mind-blowing cover of “Rock DJ” in the streets of London, you will thrill to the cry for help that “Come Undone” becomes and you may also shed a tear when hearing the sublime new arrangement of “Angels”. And this even if the hits of the English pop troublemaker are not familiar to you. Robbie Williams did not lie when he promised at the start of the film to “entertain us” by covering his title “Let Me Entertain You”.
His biopic does much more than that, also painting the portrait of a family united by the love of a mother and a grandmother. But shattered by the departure of an absent father, who ends up living his own dreams of glory through his son’s bumpy journey. Better Man dissects both the destructive mechanisms of addiction and those of a notoriety that arrived far too early. “Just like alcohol or gambling, celebrity toxicity should come with a government health warning”slips Robbie Williams to us with a smile.
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With 85 million albums sold and a record 18 Brit Awards, the Briton failed to reproduce the magic at the American box office where far too few spectators came to theaters. Don’t let these reductive figures fool you in a country where Robbie Williams’ music has never managed to break through. Better Man is one of those memorable films that deserves to be seen in theaters surrounded by strangers like a concert. Enough to make you want to extend the experience during the singer’s next tour which will stop on July 2 at Paris La Défense Arena.
>> Better Man by Michael Gracey (2h15) – currently in cinemas
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