Better Man
Directed by Michael Gracey
Written by Simon Gleeson, Oliver Cole, Michael Gracey
Starring Robbie Williams, Jonno Davies, Steve Pemberton
Runtime: 2 hours, 15 minutes
In theaters December 25

by Kimberly L., Staff Writer

Better Man was the fourth secret screening at this year’s Fantastic Fest in Austin. It wasn’t on my radar, although I think this was for the best for viewing in hindsight. The most entertaining friends and relatives to take will be the ones who know nothing about the film. There was buzz around the fest that a biopic of British pop sensation Robbie Williams was potentially in the lineup, a biopic where Williams was represented from start to finish by a motion capture monkey–I was not a believer and I am still not fully convinced it exists even though I watched it.

As a millennial who experienced the Y2K version of a British pop invasion, I was and am a Robbie Williams fan. The pop star has a magnetic charm like other boy band-affiliated musical acts turned solo, but he is known for style choices that pushed boundaries beyond typical pop. Better Man is no exception. I waited the entire film for a reference to the controversially cult and very banned 2000 music video for “Rock DJ” where Williams is seen circling a roller rink overrun with models as he strips down to his literal bone, culminating in a scene where a skeletal Williams chucks one of his own glutes into the crowd the way an exotic dancer slingshots her underwear. Unfortunately, I was very much ready for the film to be over by the time that reference arrived.

Driven by Williams’ storytelling, much of the films’ action is internalized to illustrate the tumultuous personal issues involving sex and drug addiction that the singer experienced through his adolescence into young adulthood. Robbie Williams is best known in the US for his solo tunes “Angels,” “Let Me Entertain You,” and “Millenium” released in the late 90s and early 2000s, though he had a fraught and chaotic start in the UK as part of the boy band Take That. He walked the walk and talked the talk of the signature pop archetype as the bad boy and took the role quite seriously. Devilishly handsome with a smile that twinkles, the move to render his likeness to a chimpanzee for the duration of the film is both hilarious and touching. Somehow even with this bold shift, we do not lose sight of Williams as the main event, and the dancing monkey metaphor, while driven home in plain sight, is delivered with heart and vulnerability.

Better Man is not without its problems. Sometimes the subject seems too close to the material, not limited to his relationship issues with another Brit popstar, his father, and some of the interactions with the bandmates of his youth in later life, but this is Williams’ story and the viewer can literally drown in his truth. The early scenes of a young primate Williams with his human grandmother giving him bath made me fear I was in for a two and half hour ride of Pixar level cloying applied to a problematic crooner, but I was relieved to quickly find I was wrong.

The storytelling can be painful at times when dragging us to emotional depths, but the final act skids to a frustratingly drawn out close that may not warrant the epic CGI battle of the apes presented to the viewer. Much like anyone reflecting on their own life, Williams’ view of his struggles is singularly limited to self-aggrandizement, but most of us are not afforded the opportunity to put this type of frustration to film with a seemingly unlimited budget.

Cinematically, the film is as visually riveting as a Marvel movie and brimming with traditional broadway appeal. The musical numbers are stunning in their creativity and fans of Williams’ hits will enjoy singing along like my friends and I did while new droves of people learn the irresistible lyrics. The Regent Street rendition of “Rock DJ” is one of the most grandiose moments in film in recent years, carrying the experience of the main character to new heights making it possible at times to forget you’re watching a digital image of a chimpanzee.

This film may resonate more in the UK and Europe, but its relatable struggles and whimsical imagination make it a perfect pick to see in theaters when your extended family begins to develop cabin fever. What surprised me most in watching was the successful transfer of time travel. Despite being an American child at the time of most of the protagonists’ experiences at the advent of the millennium in London, I was successfully transported to my own adolescence.

Y2K fashion and themes are hot trends in modern times, but the history of these moments is best retold by the people that personified it and Robbie Williams was an undeniable player in the global turning of the twenty first century. In preparing to write this review, I glanced through multiple articles featuring portraits of Williams and experienced an unexpected result of the film. Stare just a few seconds too long and the chimp begins to manifest over his strikingly handsome features like a MagicEye optical illusion.