By Henry Spalter
Picture this: it’s the new year, it’s January 2025! You’re looking forward to all the new films that will be released throughout the coming months. Out of intrigue, you check your local cinema to find a film that might be interesting. There are so many choices, but one stands out in particular. You see some showtimes listed for a film called Better Man. It looks like a musical starring what appears to be a CGI chimpanzee, so you do a bit more research. Turns out it’s a musical biopic about Robbie Williams. The issue is, you’ve never heard of him, and it looks a little weird, so you just go see something else. In this very specific scenario, you’re not only missing out on the time of your life, but also you’re part of the problem. Not to say you did anything wrong, but you didn’t exactly do the right thing either.
For context, Better Man (2024) is an Australian musical biopic, produced, written and directed by Michael Gracey. The film depicts the rise, fall, and eventual resurgence of British pop star Robbie Williams, all while incorporating his songs into musical numbers brimming with glorious spectacle. For those of you who still aren’t sure who this Robbie guy is, don’t worry, you’re not alone. But, because Robbie never truly garnered an audience outside of a select few countries such as the UK or Australia, when Paramount Pictures purchased the rights to the film for release in the United States, it was a complete box office bomb. So that’s why I’m here, to spread awareness of a genuinely brilliant film that you may not have even heard of.
For a brief synopsis, Better Man begins in the year 1982, in the city of Stoke-on-Trent in Northern England. Here we meet a young Robbie, who you will very quickly realize is portrayed as a talking CGI chimpanzee for the duration of the film. Anyway, Robbie is living with his father, mother, and grandmother (referred to in the film as “Nan”, a nickname for grandmothers primarily used in the UK), but dreams of hitting it big as a pop star after being inspired by his comedian father. However, Robbie soon learns that the music industry is not all sunshine and rainbows, and success isn’t always what it’s made out to be.Better Man combines some gorgeous visuals, with catchy and colorful musical numbers, a truly heartfelt and emotional story, and in the end received universal acclaim from critics and audience members alike. Yet, it still only managed to gross $22.5 million on a budget of a whopping $110 million. It’s a real shame, as director Michael Gracey had previously directed the smash-hit musical The Greatest Showman (2017), which did wonders at the box office. But, it seems that making a fantastic movie doesn’t always equate to fantastic return on investment. So, I’ll simply ask this of you: please give Better Man a watch, and I’m almost completely positive you won’t regret it.
CinemaRoll 