Rent Better Man (2024)

Entertaining Music Biopic - Better Man review by GI

There's no getting away from the somewhat surreal aspect to this rather standard music biopic of Robbie Williams. That is the very obvious gimmick of portraying him as a chimp! I get the the idea; difference, cheeky, a scamp and perhaps even the hint of being a bit out of control but I'm not convinced it's enhances this film beyond the story which is another 'price of fame' narrative with the charismatic singer revealing his depression, alcoholism, drug addiction and emotional baggage built up from his childhood principally around his father who deserted him as a boy. However once you get past the monkey thing the film is entertaining and an interesting account of a somewhat unique character in British music. The film gets across the toxic world of the music industry but the use of the chimp guise soon wears off and offers little to the film overall.

A genuinely subversive, honest & different take on the musical biopic - Better Man review by Timmy B

When I was 7, Robbie Williams left Take That. I was not a fan of their music, or even properly remembered the event happening. But it was the start of a lifelong admiration & reverence for not only Robbie's music, but also what the lyrics he wrote meant to me. He was vulnerable, open & honest at a time when most artists were emphatically not, sometimes brutally so towards himself. And he is a genuinely Marmite individual, some people absolutely detesting the arrogance, swagger & braggadociousness.

For me, that side never really bothered me, because I could always see that, behind the phenomenal showman that he is, he is a real person struggling with his own demons. Better Man is a hyper-stylised biopic which takes his life story & injects into it a fantasy element, such as Williams being portrayed as a monkey (he has stated many times that considers himself to be a performing monkey when he is on stage.) That the film manages to pull this off is in itself incredible, but there is an amazing story which elevates this high above most clichéd & dull biopics.

We follow Williams as he goes from a child in awe of his father's cabaret act, through to the teenager who is being raised by a single mother, and the start of his career in one of the most successful boy bands this country has ever produced. The film also does not shy away from showing not only Williams's descent into drink & drug addiction, but also his extremely difficult behaviour/mood swings, which alienates everyone around him and is constantly threatening to destroy not only his career but also his life.

Something which was featured in pretty much every review of this film was that you had never seen anything quite like it before. And whilst that might sound both strange & ludicrous, it is absolutely true: you really haven't seen anything like this. Sadly, due to this film absolutely tanking at the box office and becoming one of the biggest bombs of all time, it is highly unlikely we are ever going to see anything like this again, outside of the occasional big-budget streaming project.

The centerpiece of this brilliant madness is Robbie's gig at Knebworth, which turns from a triumph into a version of hell inside his own head, taking the form of a mad gladiatorial fight-to-the-death between him & his demons. You sit there, slightly dumbfounded but also laughing as this crazy film just keeps upping the madness. The drug-induced stupors are also horrible in their rawness, in particular the destruction of his relationship with Nicole Appleton. And as I mentioned earlier, in no way are Williams's actions sanitised or watered-down. His behaviour is abhorrent, cruel & selfish. And the film becomes all the more emotional for showing this.

However, despite my huge reverence for Robbie, this film isn't the home run I'd expected it to be. The storyline often meanders, and whilst huge amounts of his life story is left out, there is at least 15 minutes which could have been cut. As much as I appreciated the care taken to illustrate Robbie's early life, I feel it could have been done just as efficiently with some select cuts.

But this is still an emotional hammer blow of a film. It is impossible not to be moved seeing the young Robbie struggling after his father walks out on him to chase his dream of stardom, through the hell of his addictions then the loss of a significant family member who he cast to the side whilst pursuing his vices & career.

A powerful film with an incredible soundtrack