Let’s clear up the most obvious question about Better Man, so I can get on with talking about the film. Yes, Robbie Williams’ biopic sees the pop star portrayed as a CGI monkey and that is because he always saw himself as a little less evolved than others. While you obviously do a double take when he first appears on screen that way as a bullied child, I assure you it doesn’t detract from the potency of the offering. Featuring Williams’ big hits, Better Man is intense and harrowing.
At the peak of his fame, Williams was drinking heavily, snorting drugs and attempting self-harm because he couldn’t cope. He had it all … and he had nothing. The film tracks Williams’ life from his working-class roots to his super stardom, playing three consecutive concerts in front of 125,000 devoted fans each night. He grew up with his mother, Janet (Kate Mulvany), father, Peter (Steve Pemberton) and beloved nan, Betty (Alison Steadman). That was when he declared that he wanted to be famous.
So, the starting point is Stoke-on-Trent in 1982, when Robbie (then Robert) was an eight-year-old. His dad was a small-time entertainer, who loved Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Junior and Dean Martin. Then, one day, he changed his name to Pete Conway and just up and left Robbie and Robbie’s mum. A significant portion of the film is devoted to the uneasy relationship between father and son.
Scholastically, Robbie wasn’t exactly a prize student. But that didn’t matter after he brought his precocious self to a talent search interview, which resulted in the formation of the boy band Take That in 1990. Robbie was only 16. Over time, Williams became increasingly belligerent and his drug use escalated. He didn’t appreciate that Gary Barlow was given pride of place in the band. Robbie’s behaviour and attitude around the group saw him cast adrift in 1995.
Thereafter, his attention turned to a solo career. He hooked up with All Saints singer Nicole Appleton (Raechelle Banno). Even though the pair got engaged, given Williams’ self-destructive ways that relationship was bound to end. Williams is presented as cocky, self-conscious, destructive and supremely talented. Throughout his life, he has been plagued by demons, which are represented in the film as angry monkeys. At first, they appear as quick visions, before gaining traction ahead of the stage fright that gripped him before his pinnacle concerts.
To start, Williams himself was digitally scanned and motion-captured while performing a song from the film. That was so the filmmakers could authentically reference his facial expressions, mannerisms and performance movements. Director Michael Gracey (The Greatest Showman) then cast Australian actress Asmara Feik and English actor Carter J. Murphy to play young Robbie. Another English actor, Jonno Davies, took on the lead role of Williams as a teen and adult. Like Robbie himself, their respective performances were filmed via motion capture. Thereafter, Gracey and the digital effects house Wētā FX fused the elements to create the monkey character.
Better Man is a slick and lavish production. They have spent big on this and the movie looks sensational. The result is a captivating portrait of an entertainer with issues and vulnerabilities. The music is cleverly woven into the screenplay, with writing credits to Simon Gleeson, Oliver Cole and Gracey. I would go so far as to call Better Man visionary. Upon exiting, I felt I had been put through the wringer, but I also had a far better handle on what Robbie Williams went through. I speak of the good, the bad and the downright ugly.
Alex First
Other reviews you might enjoy:
- The Greatest Showman – movie review
- Goodbye Christopher Robin – movie review
- Mary Queen of Scots – movie review
Alex First is a Melbourne based journalist and communications specialist. He contributes to The Blurb on film and theatre.
