Brandon Lewis’s review published on Letterboxd:
Seen at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival
Better Man is almost worthy of British pop star Robbie Williams’s rambunctious swagger and blistering honesty. The film is best during its musical numbers, which lean heavily on the spirit of Williams’s charisma to revitalize his earliest catalog with exciting, even innovative interpretations. (The “Rock DJ” sequence is one of my favorite scenes of the year.) Where Gracey struggles is with aligning Williams’s life story to a Greatest Showman-style sentimentally that occasionally feels ill-fitting with his persona. That said, the self-awareness on display is appreciated and feels unique in the biopic genre. And about Williams being a CGI monkey: yes, it’s weird but it’s easy to settle into. Jonno Davis does a great job bringing that CGI monkey to life, with clear-eyed emotions that makes you kinda wish you could see how he would do without the mocap suit.
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