Ruskington

In general this was an ok set by Chappelle, maybe a bit half-hearted and repetitive but still better than most of the garbage out there that passes for stand-up comedy.

But then it came to the finale, a 15-minute bit about... errr... not sure what exactly? Dreams? Being a dreamer? Something about Russian mobsters and Lil Nas X? Where was he even going with this?

Turns out it was nothing more than a self-aggrandizing monologue that lacked humour and humility. He really seems to have developed something of a God complex and his shows are suffering for it.

It's a pretty spectacular drop from being arguably the best in the world at his profession to this. Like I say, it's still better than most comedy but, by the standards he has set, this is a huge fall in grace.

I've generally quite liked Robbie over the years. Decent music, decent voice and one of the best live performers of his generation.

I was hoping to get some deep insights into his real life exploits and learn more about him as a person. As it turns out, there wasn't really any of that. In fact, there wasn't much of anything whatsoever.

The old footage is mildly interesting but there's nothing groundbreaking that will shock people. There isn't much of a deep dive on any particular area of his life whether it be his childhood, his family, the Take That days, the mental health issues etc.

In fact, across the four episodes, Robbie doesn't really say anything at all. He just interjects a few cliches here and there about how hard everything has been. He just comes across as a bit narcissistic and self-involved. Fully understandable I guess, given the life he has led, but not really a great subject for a 3+ hour documentary.

The Lewis Capaldi film is a much better story about the highs and lows of celebrity. This is just fairly boring and self-indulgent.

The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar was my favourite Roald Dahl book as a kid, possibly my favourite book by anyone in fact. I always felt there was the potential for an incredible film adaptation and was excited to hear about this project.

And then I saw that Wes Anderson was at the helm...

Possibly the most overrated individual in all of cinema, Anderson butchers this great story in a way that even I couldn't have predicted. I was expecting the silly dialogue and cartoonish visuals but why he felt the need to cram this into 40 minutes I have no idea.

The story races by so fast that you never really get a hold of what's happening. The rapid narration is borderline stressful to listen to and completely unnecessary. The best bit of the book, the backstory of Imdad Kahn, is virtually neglected altogether and there is no time to appreciate the character arc of Sugar himself.

A truly awful but utterly predictable hatchet job from Anderson. Get a copy of the book instead and spare yourself from this self-indulgent drivel.