BETTER MAN: Musical of the Apes

By Harrison J. Bahe

Better Man is based on the true story of the meteoric rise, dramatic fall, and remarkable resurgence of British pop superstar Robbie Williams, one of the greatest entertainers of all time. Under the visionary direction of Michael Gracey (The Greatest Showman), the film is uniquely told from Robbie’s perspective, capturing his signature wit and indomitable spirit. It follows Robbie’s journey from childhood, to being the youngest member of chart-topping boyband Take That, through to his unparalleled achievements as a record-breaking solo artist — all the while confronting the challenges that stratospheric fame and success can bring.

When the trailer for Better Man played in theaters, two things raced through my mind: who the heck is Robbie Williams and why is he a monkey? In my research for this film, I discovered that Robbie Williams isn’t necessarily that well known in the States so any guilt of not knowing who this person was was quickly extinguished. The second rumination about why this British pop star was a CGI monkey was quickly answered upon watching the movie. It is an artistic choice to have the main character completely played by a digital simian. The tagline alone should explain the reasoning: Fame makes monkeys of us all.

There’s been a recent brush with musicals that have come my way in recent months. The wickedly good Wicked: Part One and the abysmally forgetful Mufasa: The Lion King come to mind. Even at home, I ventured into the French romantic tragedy in The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, which had the entire film acted out as a musical (in French, of course). Better Man is infinitely better than all those combined and, had I seen it in 2024, it would have easily made my top ten list of the year. You know, it is a shame that digital characters don’t get the recognition they deserve when it comes to awards season, especially when character actors like Andy Serkis and his iconic performance as Gollum in The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and Bill Nighy and his villainous portrayal of Davy Jones in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest go unrecognized by the Academy. There is a performance underneath that computer generated façade and the performance of Robbie Williams as himself as an ape is undoubtedly award worthy. The rawness, authenticity, heartbreak and wildness of his character is simply breathtaking. The oddity of Williams portraying himself as an ape is bizarre at first, but you immediately grow accustomed to it in the opening scenes.

Paired with the amazing performance of Robbie Williams is the visual flare of the film done by cinematographer Erik Wilson and directed by Michael Gracey. There’s an immediate style to the film that just hits you like a ton of bricks, and it doesn’t let up until the very end. It’s aggressively creative, visually stunning, and beautifully choreographed. Gracey does what I feel Steven Spielberg did with his remake of West Side Story. A musical can be a musical and feature songs sung by their main character, but it can ultimately be a visual downer. Spielberg understood this with West Side Story and knew he had to pair his songs with dazzlingly fresh dance choreography and complimentary camera work. Better Man does the same and both the music and the visuals conjoin in a symbiotic relationship and play off each other wonderfully. The film somehow managed to have me tapping my toes to the songs while being dazzled by its visuals. Three scenes immediately come to mind. The first being a one take musical number that is as aggressively fun as it is visually explosive. The second being an Up-like musical number that showcases the innocent beginnings of a relationship to the forced tragedy of abortion for the sake of keeping up appearances in the entertainment world. That one struck hard and was told in a unique albeit heartbreaking way. The third moment was the finale when Williams performs to one his largest crowds and what ensues is a medieval-like showdown between his current self and all his former selves that feed to his inhibitions, negativity and self-hate. It’s violent, animalistic, tragic and somehow musically epic in its scope.

Better Man was an absolute stunner of a film that completely and utterly caught me off guard with its aggressive visuals, beautiful choreography and tragically inspirational story of substance abuse and redemption. Robbie Williams gives such a raw, authentic performance of his life but it’s such a shame that it’s hidden behind that digital simian façade. That’s no plight against the visual effects artists at all! The CGI is absolutely astounding! It’s just that I know how the Academy looks at digital performances even though there is a 100% human performance behind the digital magic. The story of the artist who got everything he ever wanted is a familiar one. It’s something I even referenced in my A Complete Unknown review in that it’s a tired old trope to have the musician start with his humble beginnings and meteoric rise to fame only for him to indulge in the seedy underworld of substance abuse and have everything and everyone he ever loved come crashing down around him only for him to climb tooth and nail out of that wretched hole toward the light. This is that kind of movie, but it is told in such a unique way that it completely stands apart from others who have come before it, which is why I give Better Man—

5 Mics out of 5

Better Man is Rated R for Drug Use, Pervasive Language, Sexual Content, Nudity and Some Violent Content. It is currently playing in theaters nationwide.