Swing when you’re winning
When it comes to film pitches, a Robbie Williams biopic would usually nestle just above viewing my own endoscopy on my Must See list. However, I admit I was intrigued by the whole CGI chimp thing. It’s undeniably a gamble and it runs counter to the current climate of safe, mediocre musical biopics. That alone warrants some extra attention.
Just in case you’re visiting from one of those uncivilised countries (up to and including the United States) Robbie Williams was a gigantic pop star. He started his career as part of Take That, one of the biggest boybands of the Nineties, before splitting and going solo, becoming an even bigger deal in the process.
If you grew up in Britain around the same time as me, you’ll be intimately aware of Robbie’s antics. He was a tabloid mainstay throughout the ’90s and ’00s with the seemingly endless headlines and paparazzi snaps working their insidious way into your brain. Then there were the inescapable monster hits like “Angels”, “She’s the One” and “Rock DJ”. You probably know more about the man via cultural osmosis than you think you do.
So, the big question is whether the whole chimpanzee gimmick works. It works like gangbusters. There’s a slight adjustment period when young chimp Robert (apparently he hated “Robbie”) is playing street football in Stoke-on-Trent with the decidedly non-simian neighbourhood kids, but you’ll be on board by the time he’s singing Sinatra with his father. Narratively, it’s justified by the fact that RW’s opening narration informs us that this is how he sees himself, as “less evolved” than his peers. The end result is like a reverse Muppets Christmas Carol, where our lead is the funny puppet and everyone else is Michael Caine.
However, the real stroke of genius is that it makes Robbie more sympathetic. I’m not sure watching a young actor play Williams would have been nearly as effective or as entertaining. If they’d just played this straight down the line, Better Man would have been a standard rags-to-riches/ ruin-to-redemption story, solely fit for tossing on the pile of other also-rans in the biopic game.
As it stands, Better Man avoids most of the pitfalls of the genre by making several rewarding choices. The music numbers aren’t in chronological order, but slotted in where they make sense. “Feel” becomes a fragile number instigated by his father’s abandonment and “Rock DJ” becomes a barnstorming celebration of Take That hitting the big time. Speaking of which, other than the “Let Me Entertain You” sequence which I wouldn’t dare spoil here, “Rock DJ” was probably my personal highlight. The Take That lads cause chaos on Regent Street whilst the camera orbits around them in a faux one shot. There must have been an insane amount of planning, meticulous effects work and precise choreographing to get the scene feeling like a concentrated dose of anarchic goofy fun.
Outside of the impressive ape effects, the film works because of a strong supporting cast. Steve Pemberton is the standout as Williams’ selfish, inconsistent father, but all the Williams clan are great. Kate Mulvany as Robbie’s mum somehow embodies every mum ever and Robbie’s lovely nan, played by Alison Steadman, is the beating heart of the piece. I found it especially poignant when Robbie and Betty were watching old episodes of The Two Ronnies, chuckling along and eating junk food. I did the exact same thing with my dearly departed Nana and it brought about a pang of sadness, but also a feeling of comfort and safety.
When biopics are made with the person in question still alive, punches tend to be pulled. If you’ve stumped up money to tell your life story or your name is going to be writ large on billboards and bus shelters, I suppose it’s only natural that you’d want to tone down some of the more unsavoury aspects of your life, if not edit some out entirely. Better Man doesn’t seem to do that. Williams’ self-destruction is laid bare for all to see. I can’t imagine there’s much that has been omitted.
It all has a feeling of being authentically confessional. There’s moments of raw, unflinching darkness, especially during his tumultuous relationship with All Saints singer Nicole Appleton (an excellent Raechelle Banno). The “She’s the One” sequence, with the pair dancing on the deck of a yacht against a backdrop of New Year celebrations and fireworks, is pure storybook romance. However, the sting in the tail comes when the montage of the life they build together includes several wordless scenes where Nicole is forced to get an abortion for the sake of her pop career. It’s harrowing stuff and the contrast between the lovey-dovey song and the emotional gut-punch is stark, affecting and devastating.
I walked out of Better Man with a newfound respect for Robbie Williams. You can easily accuse him of being a narcissistic, immature burnout waster and he’d probably agree with you. However, as the ape himself says in therapy- once you get famous, you stop growing. He subsequently posits that he’ll be fifteen forever. I can’t remotely fathom how I would have handled fame and fortune at that age. I could barely boil an egg.
I’ve always said that biopics live and die on whether they actually manage to convey just what makes the subject movie worthy in the first place. Better Man does that and then some.
★★★★☆
The Popcorn Bucket 