Better Man | Les singeries de Robbie Williams

Synopsis: Story of the tumultuous life of British singer Robbie Williams who takes on the appearance of a chimpanzee on the big screen.

Biographical works about musicians tend to be similar: ardent desire for expression, difficult beginnings, recognition, glory, excess, fall, redemption… or tragic death.

Better Manwhich chronicles the life of Robbie Williams, is no different. Except that in his film, the now 50-year-old singer has the appearance of a chimpanzee – he calls himself “less evolved” in the trailer.

Several other reasons were mentioned during interviews: the artist told director Michael Gracey (The Greatest Showman) that he often felt like a “learned monkey” (performing monkey), that he has been cheeky as a monkey all his life and that humans have more compassion towards animals than themselves.

Certainly, the proposition does not leave one indifferent, but it is not enough to thrill the existence of a British pop star who has not enjoyed such great success on this side of the Atlantic. Despite the realism of the monkey created by Wētā FX (The Lord of the Rings), the large-scale numbers on parts such as Rock DJ, She’s the One et Something Beautiful are frankly more entertaining. The stage at the Knebworth festival, as Robbie Williams performs Let Me Entertain You in front of 125,000 people, has nothing to envy of certain action films, when the singer jumps into the crowd to physically confront his demons – also primates – which have tormented him since his youth.

Robbie Williams’ desire to entertain was passed down from his father (Steve Pemberton, very convincing). Their rather unhealthy relationship partly explains the artist’s fragile mental health. His fame obtained as a teenager within the group Take That and then his heavy consumption of alcohol and drugs only exacerbated his unhappiness. While certain facets of his depression are emphasized, others are addressed with subtlety, thus evoking his state accurately.

The insistence of Better Man to move us can be boring. The everyday moments with Robbie Williams’ mother (Kate Mulvany, reassuring) and grandmother (Alison Steadman, caring) are touching, but are not saving for a man who remains rather detestable. Even if he hides behind a monkey.

In the room

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