Mr. Dynamite. The Hardest Working Man in Show Business. The Godfather of Funk. No matter what he's called, there is no denying the energy and charisma of James Brown, and the mark he made on the musical landscape. He was a showman pure and simple, with the talent to back up his bravado. Get on Up sees his life get the musical biopic treatment, and while it's as energetic and chaotic as the man's life for the most part, it ultimately becomes your standard flat and cliched biopic.
Kicking off in 1993, then smashing back to 1988 (and an addled Brown brandishing a shotgun in a strip mall), which makes way for a trip to Vietnam in 1969, then flitting immediately back to the musicians childhood, The Help director Tate Taylor's approach becomes pretty clear as he dips in and out of important moments of Brown's life at the drop of the hat. This stylish approach helps keep the story fresh, and never staying in one time period too long echos the energy of the man himself, but the story gets muddled as the movie marches forward, many details just dropped as soon as they are introduced, and the darker moments in Brown's life, including his failed marriages and drug abuse, are frustratingly glossed over, the focus kept on Brown the musician as opposed to Brown the man, which, admittedly, has it's fair share of drama. The meat of the story is his relationship with Nelsan Ellis's Bobbi Byrd, which is handled with a deft touch, and his resentment towards his mother (Viola Davis) who left him at a young age. This part of the story is the most wasted, their reunion coming in the second act, but the nature of the movies structure means the scene immediately changes to another point in his life, and we don't see how it played out till the finale, where any emotional payoff is robbed.
The jewel in Get on Up's crown is the superb lead performance of Chadwick Boseman. The minute we see him striding down a hallway, he is james Brown. From his voice to his mannerisms to his energetic stage performances, he completely nails the character, and keeps the movie chugging along when the muddled story threatens to overwhelm it. His is a performance that is full of an attitude that the character demands, and Boseman shows the extent of his incredible talent with every scene. Ellis does his his best to keep up with him, doing much of the emotional heavy lifting when it comes to Brown and Byrd's story. The rest of the cast, including Dan Aykroyd, Craig Robinson, and Octavia Spencer, provide fine support, but they all get drowned out by Boseman's larger than life portrayal.
Ambitiously stylish, Get on Up can't really deliver on the ideas it wants to pull off, but Boseman ends up holding everything together with a performance worthy of the Godfather of Funk himself.
Kicking off in 1993, then smashing back to 1988 (and an addled Brown brandishing a shotgun in a strip mall), which makes way for a trip to Vietnam in 1969, then flitting immediately back to the musicians childhood, The Help director Tate Taylor's approach becomes pretty clear as he dips in and out of important moments of Brown's life at the drop of the hat. This stylish approach helps keep the story fresh, and never staying in one time period too long echos the energy of the man himself, but the story gets muddled as the movie marches forward, many details just dropped as soon as they are introduced, and the darker moments in Brown's life, including his failed marriages and drug abuse, are frustratingly glossed over, the focus kept on Brown the musician as opposed to Brown the man, which, admittedly, has it's fair share of drama. The meat of the story is his relationship with Nelsan Ellis's Bobbi Byrd, which is handled with a deft touch, and his resentment towards his mother (Viola Davis) who left him at a young age. This part of the story is the most wasted, their reunion coming in the second act, but the nature of the movies structure means the scene immediately changes to another point in his life, and we don't see how it played out till the finale, where any emotional payoff is robbed.
The jewel in Get on Up's crown is the superb lead performance of Chadwick Boseman. The minute we see him striding down a hallway, he is james Brown. From his voice to his mannerisms to his energetic stage performances, he completely nails the character, and keeps the movie chugging along when the muddled story threatens to overwhelm it. His is a performance that is full of an attitude that the character demands, and Boseman shows the extent of his incredible talent with every scene. Ellis does his his best to keep up with him, doing much of the emotional heavy lifting when it comes to Brown and Byrd's story. The rest of the cast, including Dan Aykroyd, Craig Robinson, and Octavia Spencer, provide fine support, but they all get drowned out by Boseman's larger than life portrayal.
Ambitiously stylish, Get on Up can't really deliver on the ideas it wants to pull off, but Boseman ends up holding everything together with a performance worthy of the Godfather of Funk himself.
