‘Better Man’- Film Review: Let Robbie Williams as a Monkey Entertain You

As an occasional fan of musical biopics once in a while, it can often be challenging to find a film from the subgenre that truly breaks the mold, especially when it’s about the artist in question. Just in 2024 alone, Hollywood was flooded with such films and documentaries. However, while some, like Bob Marley: One Love, felt uninspired, others, like Back in Black, were a disappointment, feeling more insulting to the late singer’s legacy. Then I learned there was going to be one about British pop singer Robbie Williams, but probably the most unconventional way to tell the story of his rise and fame. Anyone who watches the trailers for Better Man will probably think this is the lowest point of entertainment for the genre. Yet, with the trust of co-wrier/ director Michael Gracey to run forward with this idea to please those who know the man in question, it ends up becoming a great time.

What’s the Story: Follow through the life of Robbie Williams (played/ narrated by himself and Jonno Davies through motion capture) but with the twist of him as a young chimpanzee. Growing up in Stoke-on-Trent with his family, Robbie longs for the attention of his father, Peter (Steve Pemberton), who idolizes swing music legends like Frank Sinatra. When Peter leaves the family to pursue a career in comedy, Robbie moves in with his mother, Janet (Kate Mulvany), and his supportive grandmother, Betty (Alison Steadman), with dreams of becoming a famous singer. At the age of sixteen, Robbie’s life takes a dramatic turn when he becomes the youngest member of the boy band Take That. This marks the beginning of his journey toward stardom, which continues as he attempts to break out into a solo career after his departure from the band, experiencing both the highs and lows that come with fame.

To be honest, Better Man was one of my most anticipated films during this awards season, and I’ve been eager to see it ever since its wide release and its debut at the Telluride Film Festival and TIFF. Unlike many others, I have been a fan of Williams’ music for nearly a decade, having discovered Take That during my senior year of high school. Do I know all of his discography? No, but I consider him one of my favorites. In fact, he was one of my top Spotify artists a couple years back. Surprisingly, most American audiences likely don’t recognize him, even though he gained popularity in the ’90s. He smoothly transitioned through pop and even swing music for a few albums, serving as the U.K.’s equivalent to Justin Timberlake before launching his solo career. Interestingly, the first time I heard anything from him was his cover of Bobby Darin’s “Beyond the Sea” for Finding Nemo.

Last spring, when I heard they were making a film featuring him as a CGI chimpanzee, I couldn’t believe it. It seemed like a bizarre rumor, and it was strange to base an entire movie around a singing monkey. At first, I assumed it would only include one scene, given that he has a song titled “Me and My Monkey,” which makes some sense. Regardless, I was unsure how I would feel if the film didn’t meet my expectations. However, I found that I might love this more than others would since I already knew what kind of movie I was getting into.

The film’s selling point, which draws audiences in, is portraying Williams as a chimpanzee. Why is that? He has always seen himself as a “performing monkey” or “less evolved than other people.” It had to be impossible to tell his story and have us be invested for two hours with a non-human as the lead. But it’s all in the execution, and it was always believable to the point of not becoming just a gimmick, and it was almost funny to notice no one else acknowledged it. The work done by WETA to make Jonno Davies appear to how we would imagine the singer, who’s still alive at 50, as a nearly photorealistic monkey was excellent, which is no surprise considering they’re the same company behind the recent Planet of the Apes movies. It’s not as distracting as I thought, even while he’s singing. If you take the monkey out of the equation, would it still make for a compelling experience? Who knows.

Since I know some details about who he is from his life and career, the mindset throughout this was not looking at this as another conventional biopic where it had to be completely accurate, but view it as though this was what Williams wanted to tell his story; not a reflection of what really happened. (There’s a solid docuseries on Netflix that’s worth watching btw). Predictable as the screenplay can be with the typical rockstar clichés, such as drug use and battling depression/ facing his inner demons, it doesn’t detract from the story of a man who doesn’t want to be a nobody and makes mistakes, yet ultimately strives to become someone who loves his life.

Better Man doesn’t present a typical polished retrospective of Williams’ fame; instead, it approaches the topic with a serious tone while also incorporating some lighthearted aspects. This, in part, explains Erik A. Wilson’s grainy cinematography. The film delves into Robbie’s struggles, such as his father’s absence and creative conflicts with his manager, Nigel Martin Smith (Damon Herriman), and bandmate Gary Barlow (Jake Simmance), who prevented him from sharing his own songs. Additionally, it explores his heartbreaking romance with All Saints member Nicole Appleton (Raechelle Banno) in the late ’90s. These elements make Robbie a very sympathetic character to follow throughout the story. None of us will probably ever have the chance to have that success of fame, but through his eyes, his depiction of what could happen still hasn’t changed for the celebrities we know today.

Taking things from a musical perspective, it’s certainly more original than what we’ve seen lately. It’s the opposite effect of going into Wicked and being familiar with a couple of songs. Here, I already know a good chunk of tunes and loved how he re-recorded them to give the arrangements a cinematic feel to incorporate them into the story. What we have here is a very different movie compared to Gracey’s box office hit, The Greatest Showman. While I enjoy the songs and performances in that musical more than the actual story, this film feels like a perfect jukebox musical that features some of Williams’ most well-known songs. There’s no denying that these songs evoke a wide range of emotions, from “Feel” to his most popular track, “Angels,” which nearly brought me to tears. More importantly, the set pieces inject tons of energy to make things more fantastical or feel like we, too, snorted cocaine. The best and most creative sequence that had a smile on my face was “Rock DJ,” where Robbie and his Take That mates dance through Regent Street to make it appear as a one-take with costume changes and slick choreography to sell it all.

Even when things start to slow down around the third act, the investment is still there, culminating in a rousing climax that made me happy to know I listened to that exact same song a week earlier at work. What I wanted to get out of Better Man is knowing we have another memorable musical on our hands outside Wicked, and it is. It’s unfortunate that nobody was aware of this release, particularly in the U.S., where the artist isn’t the most recognizable name in music. This musical deserves recognition, especially considering a possible Oscar nomination for Visual Effects. While it did receive a Golden Globe nomination for the original song “Forbidden Road,” finding out that it didn’t make the Oscars shortlist is quite disheartening. However, if you’ve been watching ads on TV or online and are still curious about seeing this, this is a high recommendation from me. Plus, this makes for a perfect double-feature with another equally underrated biopic, the Elton John biopic Rocketman.

Overall, Better Man offers a unique spin to the traditional musical biopic that is unbelievably appealing to fans of Robbie Williams. If this leaves you captivated to listen to his music and gives you a glimpse inside his head with an unusual yet bold decision of his portrayal, then this got the job done.

Top 10 Robbie Williams Songs: