It's
too bad Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
didn't make more of a cultural impact. The Judd Apatow-produced parody
lampooned the staid conventions of the music biopic as seen in films like Walk the Line and Ray. Walk Hard should
have blown up the biopic the way Austin
Powers tore down the spy genre. While nobody makes a spy movie in the campy
style of the old school Bonds, the standard formula for the music biopic still
remains.
The story generally begins with the subject, in his old age, preparing for a major concert and reflecting on his entire life. This is followed by flashbacks of all their highs and lows. Get on Up starts off true to formula with an elderly James Brown (Chadwick Boseman) walking alone down a solemnly lit corridor. The muffled roar of an excited crowd is the only accompaniment to his footsteps. Brown is ready to look back on his life. Surprisingly, Get on Up doesn't go directly to Brown's childhood, but one of his lowest points. In 1993, a drug-addled Brown accidentally discharges a shotgun while berating the unsuspecting attendees of a seminar after someone used his private bathroom. He'd eventually lead police on a high speed chase before spending three years in prison.
From there, Get on Up unfolds in a non-chronological fashion almost as if it were a greatest hits album, except not everything was a chart topper. We see glimpses of Brown as an impoverished child (played by twins Jamarion and Jordan Scott) living in a ramshackle homestead with an abusive father (Lennie James) and a mother (Viola Davis) who abandoned him at a young age. In a disturbing sight, Brown is amongst a group of black boys who are blindfolded and forced to box in a battle royal at a white country club's charity event.
Brown rose from these humble beginnings to worldwide fame as the Godfather of Soul. He upstaged the Rolling Stones in 1964 at The T.A.M.I. Show, strutting offstage and boldly challenging Mick Jagger to top him. Of course, Brown would be a big influence on the Stones frontman to the point where Jagger is actually a producer for Get on Up. Brown performed in front of troops during Vietnam, despite his cargo plane nearly being shot down, and he calmed an angry crowd at Boston Garden the night after Martin Luther King's assassination.
The Hardest Working Man in Show Business would hit his dark patches as well, but you'd hardly know it judging by the film. Brown's problems with drug addiction and domestic abuse are dealt with in the most perfunctory manner. Only one scene a piece is devoted to these issues. Still, Get on Up could hardly be considered hagiographic as Brown's ego and financial blunders are attributed to driving a wedge between he and his fellow musicians.
Get on Up was written by Jez and John-Henry Butterworth, the brothers who knocked it out of the park with Edge of Tomorrow. The Butterworths made a smart move by shuffling the events to make the movie stand out. Otherwise, taken chronologically, this is a typical biopic that attempts to encapsulate an entire life into two hours. There's also a slightly surreal touch, a surprising element given that the director is Tate Taylor, who presented racism in a mainstream multiplex manner with The Help. In a recreation of the Frankie Avalon picture Ski Party, Brown performs "I Got You (I Feel Good)" in an ugly Christmas sweater and surrounded by smiling, plastic faces. The action slows down as Brown laments that he's trapped in a "honky hoedown." On occasion, Brown breaks the fourth wall and addresses the camera with the payoff being a shamed man who cannot look the audience in the eye after striking his wife.
Chadwick Boseman had a star making turn as Jackie Robinson in 42 and he was reluctant to tackle yet another true-life story. Luckily, Boseman had a change of heart. This is a complete 180 from the stoic Robinson. As Brown, Boseman goes beyond mere mimicry. He captures the electrifying presence of Mr. Dynamite and seamlessly performs all of his fleet footed dance moves. The understated Nelsan Ellis serves as a counterpoint to the outlandish Brown as his best friend Bobby Byrd. The long-suffering pal stood by Brown's side for decades until their falling out. Although, she's only in a handful of scenes, Viola Davis blows everyone away as the estranged mother Susie Brown. Her uneasy reunion with her son is the most powerful scene in the film.
The story generally begins with the subject, in his old age, preparing for a major concert and reflecting on his entire life. This is followed by flashbacks of all their highs and lows. Get on Up starts off true to formula with an elderly James Brown (Chadwick Boseman) walking alone down a solemnly lit corridor. The muffled roar of an excited crowd is the only accompaniment to his footsteps. Brown is ready to look back on his life. Surprisingly, Get on Up doesn't go directly to Brown's childhood, but one of his lowest points. In 1993, a drug-addled Brown accidentally discharges a shotgun while berating the unsuspecting attendees of a seminar after someone used his private bathroom. He'd eventually lead police on a high speed chase before spending three years in prison.
From there, Get on Up unfolds in a non-chronological fashion almost as if it were a greatest hits album, except not everything was a chart topper. We see glimpses of Brown as an impoverished child (played by twins Jamarion and Jordan Scott) living in a ramshackle homestead with an abusive father (Lennie James) and a mother (Viola Davis) who abandoned him at a young age. In a disturbing sight, Brown is amongst a group of black boys who are blindfolded and forced to box in a battle royal at a white country club's charity event.
Brown rose from these humble beginnings to worldwide fame as the Godfather of Soul. He upstaged the Rolling Stones in 1964 at The T.A.M.I. Show, strutting offstage and boldly challenging Mick Jagger to top him. Of course, Brown would be a big influence on the Stones frontman to the point where Jagger is actually a producer for Get on Up. Brown performed in front of troops during Vietnam, despite his cargo plane nearly being shot down, and he calmed an angry crowd at Boston Garden the night after Martin Luther King's assassination.
The Hardest Working Man in Show Business would hit his dark patches as well, but you'd hardly know it judging by the film. Brown's problems with drug addiction and domestic abuse are dealt with in the most perfunctory manner. Only one scene a piece is devoted to these issues. Still, Get on Up could hardly be considered hagiographic as Brown's ego and financial blunders are attributed to driving a wedge between he and his fellow musicians.
Get on Up was written by Jez and John-Henry Butterworth, the brothers who knocked it out of the park with Edge of Tomorrow. The Butterworths made a smart move by shuffling the events to make the movie stand out. Otherwise, taken chronologically, this is a typical biopic that attempts to encapsulate an entire life into two hours. There's also a slightly surreal touch, a surprising element given that the director is Tate Taylor, who presented racism in a mainstream multiplex manner with The Help. In a recreation of the Frankie Avalon picture Ski Party, Brown performs "I Got You (I Feel Good)" in an ugly Christmas sweater and surrounded by smiling, plastic faces. The action slows down as Brown laments that he's trapped in a "honky hoedown." On occasion, Brown breaks the fourth wall and addresses the camera with the payoff being a shamed man who cannot look the audience in the eye after striking his wife.
Chadwick Boseman had a star making turn as Jackie Robinson in 42 and he was reluctant to tackle yet another true-life story. Luckily, Boseman had a change of heart. This is a complete 180 from the stoic Robinson. As Brown, Boseman goes beyond mere mimicry. He captures the electrifying presence of Mr. Dynamite and seamlessly performs all of his fleet footed dance moves. The understated Nelsan Ellis serves as a counterpoint to the outlandish Brown as his best friend Bobby Byrd. The long-suffering pal stood by Brown's side for decades until their falling out. Although, she's only in a handful of scenes, Viola Davis blows everyone away as the estranged mother Susie Brown. Her uneasy reunion with her son is the most powerful scene in the film.
Get on Up doesn't do much to defy the tired conventions of the musical biopic.
However, the film is able to rocket up the charts courtesy of a stellar
performance by Chadwick Boseman. This is an enjoyable picture, just not one you
should go out of your way to see.
Rating: ** (*****)
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