Get On Up (12A.)
Directed by Tate Taylor.
Starring Chadwick Boseman, Nelsan Ellis, Dan Ackroyd, Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, Lennie James and Craig Robinson. 139 mins. Available now On Blu-ray and DVD from Universal.
James Brown, The Hardest Working Man in Show Business, gets a biopic that is every bit as unrelenting and bursting with energy as its subject. It never lets up and has all kinds of little tricks to throw at you – a non linear narrative, bits of time lapse photography and regularly breaking the fourth wall, as Brown talks directly to the audience. This ants-in-the-pants mosaic jumps back and forth around his career, from his tough childhood to his enormous success, while the protagonist flips between being The Godfather of Soul, Soul Brother Number One, or Mr Dynamite. The film is certainly a ride, although whether we get a portrait of a man or a parade of aliases is another matter.
We do though very definitely get a performance. The script by British playwright Jez Butterworth and his screenwriter brother John-Henry presents Brown as a charismatic monster, always ready with a smart quip or insight, whose epic self assurance allows him to get away with his violent, egotistical excesses. It's a dream role and Boseman storms through it. How close to this is to the real Brown is up for debate but as Boseman doesn't look much like Brown (he looks like The Cat in Red Dwarf and Boseman's dialogue deliver sounds like it's been influenced by Scatman Crowthers) I think we are supposed to accept that this is a stylised, even idealised version of the man, an incarnation that allows audiences a more agreeable surrogate with which they can skim through a selection of excerpts from his life.
The film shows his flaws – he is violent towards women, he is a dictatorial boss who fines bands members for infractions of his code and brooks no dissent from his minions, which is in his view is just about anyone below the rank of President of the USA – but it doesn't raging bull him. There is one, off screen, punch addressed to his wife of the time and the film opens with him firing a shotgun into the ceiling because a lady dared to use his own personal bathroom. The film generally sees his egomania and callousness as a regrettable but acceptable price to pay for his genius.
It's not substantial but Get On Up is tremendously entertaining skim, much better than these kind of events usually are.
Extras.
The disc contains a director's commentary and numerous featurettes.
..
Directed by Tate Taylor.
Starring Chadwick Boseman, Nelsan Ellis, Dan Ackroyd, Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, Lennie James and Craig Robinson. 139 mins. Available now On Blu-ray and DVD from Universal.
James Brown, The Hardest Working Man in Show Business, gets a biopic that is every bit as unrelenting and bursting with energy as its subject. It never lets up and has all kinds of little tricks to throw at you – a non linear narrative, bits of time lapse photography and regularly breaking the fourth wall, as Brown talks directly to the audience. This ants-in-the-pants mosaic jumps back and forth around his career, from his tough childhood to his enormous success, while the protagonist flips between being The Godfather of Soul, Soul Brother Number One, or Mr Dynamite. The film is certainly a ride, although whether we get a portrait of a man or a parade of aliases is another matter.
We do though very definitely get a performance. The script by British playwright Jez Butterworth and his screenwriter brother John-Henry presents Brown as a charismatic monster, always ready with a smart quip or insight, whose epic self assurance allows him to get away with his violent, egotistical excesses. It's a dream role and Boseman storms through it. How close to this is to the real Brown is up for debate but as Boseman doesn't look much like Brown (he looks like The Cat in Red Dwarf and Boseman's dialogue deliver sounds like it's been influenced by Scatman Crowthers) I think we are supposed to accept that this is a stylised, even idealised version of the man, an incarnation that allows audiences a more agreeable surrogate with which they can skim through a selection of excerpts from his life.
The film shows his flaws – he is violent towards women, he is a dictatorial boss who fines bands members for infractions of his code and brooks no dissent from his minions, which is in his view is just about anyone below the rank of President of the USA – but it doesn't raging bull him. There is one, off screen, punch addressed to his wife of the time and the film opens with him firing a shotgun into the ceiling because a lady dared to use his own personal bathroom. The film generally sees his egomania and callousness as a regrettable but acceptable price to pay for his genius.
It's not substantial but Get On Up is tremendously entertaining skim, much better than these kind of events usually are.
Extras.
The disc contains a director's commentary and numerous featurettes.
..
