Better Man: La Historia de Robbie Williams

I've never felt moved enough by a film before to feel the need to write a review - I haven't laughed and cried so much in the cinema for a very long time I've never been a massive Robbie Williams/Take that fan - so this is not a super fan review This film was a first hand gut wrenching look at how awful fame can be in all its inglorious brutal reality.

In a year of lacklustre disappointing cinema this was a shining light of entertainment - with some excellent story telling, singing and dance routines (and an all too real glimpse into the lives of Robbie and his family).

Watching the main themes of abandonment, alcoholism, addiction, helplessness & forgiveness play out in this story was exceptionally moving and a biopic to be remembered and revered.

There's something about the use of the monkey to characterise Robbie Williams that makes this quite a visceral watch at times. The film tells the story of the fairly turbulent rise of this "Take That" singer from boyhood exponent of Gilbert and Sullivan to a man on the right end of an £80 millions record deal. His dad (Steve Pemberton) went off to a football match whilst he was a child and never came back, and that left him with his mum "Janet" (Kate Mulvany) and adoring nan (Alison Steadman) living a pretty much hand to mouth existence and leaving him with a pretty solid foundation for his later emotional and trust issues. Unless you've lived on the moon these last twenty years, then you'll know much of what happens next. What does make this stand out a little more is the fact that Williams himself is behind the project and is in no way afraid to portray himself as a complete ass. His drink, drugs, tantrums and generally spoilt brattishness are laid bare with little, if any, attempt to sanitise. In some ways it reminded me of the recent "Amy" biopic and came hot on the heels of a recent viewing of "Easter Parade" (1948) with both serving, for completely different reasons, to augment the thrust of this story of a person who attained great stardom, success and wealth - and ultimately ended up with addictions galore and few, real, friends amidst a sea of hangers-on and parasites all too eager to selfishly cash in on the fame of a lad who started aged just fifteen. Of course it's not exactly balanced, and I'm sure the gospel according to Robbie might not be quite how others see their own behaviour (or his) but there is an honesty to this that brings home just how ruthless the music business is and at just how fickle fame can be when those we idolise lose their lustre. It doesn't do it any harm that many of his solo songs work well through big screen audio with some classy string arrangements and powerful vocals to remind us that, unlike many of the largely forgotten "Take That" singles, his music - especially the stuff he made with Guy Chambers - is the stuff we will really long remember. It's not for the faint hearted, but still well worth a watch.

An absolutely unhinged, emotional, and impactful cinematic achievement. The visual creativity shines through with the hardcore drug-induced sequences having a touch of a fantasy element while unapologetically exploring the mental health of Williams.

It offers something new and refreshing, giving audiences a different perspective on this whole biopic formula. It becomes very bleak and explicit, not afraid from showing the reality of fame, parental abandonment, depression, addiction and self-harm.

You're probably thinking it's just another biopic, why even bother, they all have the same cliches-but everything depicted actually happened to Williams, so you can't compare it to other films that make stuff up to enhance the story dramatically. He went through EVERYTHING. He even described the whole viewing experience as the equivalent of "going to therapy."

Although there are familiar tropes, it dives deeper into the thematic material more than you'd expect and has the balls to do what other biopics can't.

The biggest controversy surrounding the film was the CGI monkey, but its presence feels so seamlessly integrated that you hardly give it a second thought.

This is the first and last time we will ever get something like this so enjoy it while it lasts. Extremely experimental yet so captivating with many moments which hit you hard in many ways.

People online who don't know who Robbie Williams is are saying "oh, he did the Finding Nemo and Cars 2 credits songs and made a 5 second TikTok song, why does this random British musician who hasn't been popular since the 2000's need some biopic?". Every single comment section for a promotional video for this film includes a comment similar to that where I just get furious. America isn't the only country in the world. Honestly, most of us didn't know what Hamilton was until it went on Disney+.

Robbie Williams' lyrics have mentally pushed me through the last few months. He knows what people are going through and isn't afraid to acknowledge the silence in our lives. Specifically Come Undone, Feel, and Something Beautiful, are the ones that define me. These songs have been out forever, and I'm so glad that younger audiences, like myself, who go out to see this, can discover such material.

This ain't no normal biopic. Go see it and give it a chance. You will not regret it, trust me. Maybe you weren't expecting to see it, but surprises like going out to watch it can have such an impact, more than you know-just like it did on me. I wasn't keen on seeing this. Not at all. Little did I know, it changed me to become a better man.

I think how you view this film might depend on whether you have a bit of empathy or familiarity towards Robbie Williams, or at least like his music. If you don't have that empathy, or familiarity with his tunes/background, then this is more a saga about what the music scene, some years ago (and maybe now?) can do to an individual.

On the other hand, you could also view this as one "oh dear, look at me and how hard I found fame, given my tough background" self indulgent mea culpa.

I have to say, though, I enjoyed it. I think I must be on the empathetic, like the music side of things.

The idea of having a CGI monkey is excellent, if Robbie, or a look alike (maybe it is one) had starred, it would have felt far more self indulgent. As it was, it was watchable, well written and directed.

The film was, however too long (by about 15-20 mins), the middle too repetitive, and the ending too schmalzy. Still, the music is good and, generally not overdone (I hate musicals).

Worth a watch.

The documentary that follows the struggles of pop star Robbie Williams as he navigates his way through fame.

I shall start by saying I am not a Robbie Williams fan. He's had some great tracks out in the past, I actually know all the words to Angels, and that's only 1 of about a dozen songs I know all the words to, 9 of them being Taylor Swift songs. But anyway, my friend wanted to see the film as she is a big Williams fan so I agreed to accompany her and boy, am I glad I did.

Why is there an ape instead of Robbie Williams? Well Williams claims that fame is dogged by people expecting him to be a performing monkey. And I concur with that. You only have to watch modern chat shows to realise that all people want their stars to do is perform like a monkey for them. This is Robbie at his most truthful, telling it like it is without fear of repercussion. I like him already, as I like truthful people. This though extends into his film too. His film is not about his music, there's only 2 or 3 tracks played the whole way through. The film is not even really about his fame directly: the film is about him. How he copes (or does not) with fame, how he copes with competition (or does not) how he copes with rejection and frustration, (or does not), how he revels in drink and drugs and how he eventually sinks so low and alienates his closest friends that he has to seek therapy to bring him back to a functioning human.

It is a staggeringly honest film and he does not shirk from his mistakes, nor the mistakes of others. He does not portray himself as a victim although in some ways I think he was. He wants everyone to understand who he is, who he was, and what shaped him to this point.

The cinematography is exquisite. The lighting and colours beautiful, the dancing at times is mesmerising: the scene in the main street that appears to have thousands of people in is just cinematic perfection. The CGI ape dances like the best dancer in the world and it is so great to watch I was actually taken aback by how beautiful it was.

I now have a positive opinion of this man who can bare his soul to all and sundry and do it with panache and style and brutal honesty. I would urge anyone who likes cinema to watch this film just for the cinematic experience if nothing else. Kudos to Erik Wilson (cinematographer), beautiful work. I gave it a solid 8.