I didn’t want to see Better Man. I had zero interest in it. Robbie Williams is a talented guy. He’s a great singer and the man can entertain. The problem is, he knows that he can which makes him an asshole.
Better Man stars Williams, Steve Pemberton, Alison Steadman, Kate Mulvany, Frazer Hadfield, Damon Herriman, and Raechelle Banno.
Michael Gracey directs. He is the man who directed The Greatest Showman, which… I’m going to say it… is an outstanding movie.
Better Man is very much like The Greatest Showman, apart from one thing. The main character in Greatest Show, P. T. Barnum, is dead. This means his not putting his own input into the movie.
Better Man is purely about Williams stroking his own ego.
The Story
As you probably know, Better Man is about the rise of Robbie Williams. The official plot is:
The meteoric rise, dramatic fall, and remarkable resurgence of British pop superstar Robbie Williams.
If you don’t know who Williams is, I’m dead jealous, because I wish I didn’t.
He was basically in Take That, a huge British boyband from the 1990s. The movie starts with him as a young lad, hated by everyone, following him in becoming a pop star loved by women, to whatever he is today.
The movie starts with his voiceover:
“Who is Robbie Williams? Well, I’ve been called many things; narcissistic, punchable and a shit eating twat. While I am those things, I want to show you how I really see myself. So sit back and relax, while I give you a right fucking entertaining!”
This must have been ironic, because this is where my ‘entertaining’ ended, at 1 minute 17 seconds in.
As you probably know, William is portrayed as a CGI chimp for the entirety of the movie. Why? Because Williams feels “less evolved than other people”.
I’m going to take a punt here, but I don’t think any of you Outposters have an interest in the life of Robbie Williams. I know I didn’t and, now I’ve seen Better Man, I have less interest. Why?
All About Me, Me, Me
Better Man is all about Williams stroking his own, fragile ego. That’s it, the only person who will find this ‘entertaining’ is Williams himself. In fact, he doesn’t even care about his female fans.
It made me laugh that he’s fancied by women, he’s a good looking guy and, apart from his singing, that’s all there is about him.
I can’t see women wanting to spend time discussing the arts, politics or the meaning of life with him. Women just want to shag him.
The irony that he’s played by a CGI chimp all the way through the movie really made me laugh. Women will go and see Better Man, hoping to maybe see Williams in the nude, but he’s an ape all the way through!
It reminded me of Immaculate, you watch it to see Sydney Sweeny, and she’s dressed as a nun all the way through. What’s the point?
Take That Robbie and Four Guys
When he gets to the point of being in Take That it’s not about the band, it’s about Williams and four other guys who just happened to be there. He mentions the other guys but does so in a very patronising manner.
Obviously, Better Man is about him, but he has to mention the other members of Take That. I imagine he probably tried to get those bits cut out, if people were looking at the actor playing Gary Barlow, they wouldn’t be looking at Williams.
This movie is about Williams, don’t forget that, Williams, not other people. In fact, how dare other people even appear in this movie! The bloody cheek of them.
Planet Of The Apes – The Musical
The whole chimp thing is just too odd. If Better Man was played out as a more ‘normal’ biopic, like Rocket Man or Bohemian Rhapsody, then it might have been slightly better. Having him as a chimp is just weird.
It gets even weirder as, during some concerts, he sees other versions of himself still as a chimp. They are displeased with how he’s turned out. Sure, he’s a rock star, but also a drug addict, alcoholic and just basically a narcissist.
He’s become the person other people want him to be, but he’s not ‘evolved’ into the person he wanted to be.
At one concert, everyone turns into chimps and there’s a massive battle where Williams takes out people with a sword. He also murders a young, female chimp with a knife. I don’t think this happened at a concert, it would have been on the news.
The Direction
I think Gracey did an excellent job with The Greatest Showman. I can’t deny there are some great bit of direction in Better Man, but they are ruined by being too much.
Here is the Rock DJ song and scene.
It’s an impressive set piece, but there is nothing ‘real’ in it. I’d say about 99% of that is CGI and it all just looks too fake. At no point in The Greatest Showman did I think anything was fake, it was all believable.
Yes, I know Williams is a CGI chimp in Better Man, but none of it is real. It’s just about his own ego and how creative he is. The rest of the cast, the direction, the editing, the CGI is all wasted on such a crappy story.
Overall
Is Better Man worth watching? It was interesting, but just not enough to engage me. I appreciated the direction and movie-making, but I couldn’t give more of a rat’s ass about Williams. He is a ‘narcissist, punchable, shit-eating twat’. Better Man just confirmed it for me.
Throughout the entire thing, it was like William was trying to say “I get that I’m a bit of a cock, but it’s cool, I know I’m a cock…I’m in on the joke”.
This makes it worse somehow, if you’re teasing someone for being a cock, it takes the fun out of it if they join in! In fact, the last line of the movie is his voiceover:
“I am the greatest entertainer in the world. Fuck you!”
I seem to be in a small minority here. Looking the movie up the score on Shill Central Rotten Tomatoes and everyone loved it. I didn’t, but then, you know you’ll always get an honest review from the Last Movie Outpost. We watch this shit, so you don’t have to.
I’m giving Better Man 1 star, as there are good moments, but it’s not enough to keep you engaged. I showed you the best bit in the video above. If your girlfriend/wife wants to watch this, to lust over Robbie, I would say put it on. It’ll be funny to see her reaction as he’s just a chimp all the way through.
