A genre stuck in a refusal to change its stripes at every turn, the music biopic is often eye rolling at best, grating at worst. Constantly running the gamut of every trope to ever exist while never doing anything to capture the essence of its subject in any meaningful ways, the list goes on and on and on with tired old renditions of the same silly film.
By all accounts, “Better Man” should fit firmly among the greatest offenders, telling the story of a rags to riches underdog singer/songwriter who hits rock bottom about halfway through, gets his act together and then celebrates their success (either present or posthumously) as the title cards roll and tell us why they are or were so important. It has even more going against it because no one in American knows who the hell Robbie Williams is, making all of the cliche ridden story beats even more confusing as it asks us to care a lot about someone we’ve never heard of.

The film may stick to the script on paper, but “Better Man” ends up being better than most for a few reasons, the CGI monkey as the stand in for Williams being one of them. It shines brightest when focused on being entertaining first, self important second. Things like “One Love,” “Elvis,” and “A Complete Unknown” exist to assault us with how vital the artist is to us and our culture regardless of whether or not we care or care to know. There is such an air of self seriousness surrounding their artists and story that it simply becomes a parody of itself. They want us to love the artist – tortured or not – and hold them in the highest esteem imaginable by cramming their whole existence into a two hour greatest hits album. And if that fails, it can always fall back on a glorified greatest hits album like “Bohemian Rhapsody,” surviving on our love the music that blinds viewers from how bad the film is. This film has no intention of making Williams out to be anything other than what he is and how he sees himself; a literal party animal obsessed with being famous at all costs regardless of the consequences. He is a self proclaimed animal, and the CGI Monkey is merely an unsubtle nod to this view and the allegorical “artists are nothing more than dancing monkeys for show business” theme that permeates the entire film.
We are never asked to take it seriously because Robbie himself doesn’t, either. He’s an entertainer and a bad boy with an uncontrollable coke habit and a raging alcoholic almost all the way through, and the film never once attempts to paint him in the good light. As he said in a recent appearance, “you book Robbie Williams, you fucking get Robbie Williams.” For the first time in a long time, a music biopic actually captures the true essence of its artist. Combined with both Williams at the forefront of his own story (but as a CGI Monkey) and Michael Gracey’s (“The Greatest Showman“) opting to keep things constantly moving with dazzling set pieces at the forefront, it allows them both to make “Better Man” as brash as they want to while also making it as entertaining as possible. Gracey brings the best parts of his previous outing to this one, strengthening his musical numbers to be fantastical and wildly engaging. You may not know who Williams is, but Gracey’s selection of music, gorgeous framing and dazzling cinematography leaves you humming the tunes and ferociously searching for his tracks on Spotify after you leave the theater.
This is already a better achievement than 90% of music biopics out there, but “Better Man” also successfully inserts a CGI Monkey as its star. It is never mentioned or drawn attention to, allowing the audience to be confused at first but begin to put it together over time. It’s also easier to stomach a CGI Monkey ripping lines of coke while getting handjobs backstage or run off to do crack in the bathroom or fight a bunch of versions of himself in one of the most violent 5 minutes I’ve seen in a while. Yes, all of this really happens. The worst of a man obsessed with fame and fortune laid bare with empathy but never sympathy. Williams’ brings an honesty to himself that most biopics shy away from, and we learn a lot about the man as the monkey because of this. None of this is new; it’s not like “Better Man” depicts the only artist to rise to fame and struggle with drugs and alcohol and depression. Those are music biopic staples, but something about watching a CGI Monkey go through it all somehow makes it not just more engaging, but somehow more relatable?

It’s a strange phenomenon: by putting VFX between the audience and the protagonist, we actually feel closer to them than many of the aforementioned artists depicted on the screen. It is an amazing feat, one that only something as bold and unique as this film could pull off. Everything somehow hits harder and somehow feels more relatable. Every struggle more personal, every emotional moment feeling more purposeful than manipulative, and every outrageous moment more engaging. It simply does so many things right, and prioritizing entertainment of an entertainer over the self seriousness of the artist’s impact really brings it all home. Genre tropes and audaciousness ‘collide,’ but it’s as vulgar as it is vulnerable and never once apologizes or makes excuses for its obscenity. Rather than trying to turn Williams’ into some kind of misunderstood saint, “Better Man” hammers home the simplicity of performers: they are dancing monkeys for the fame machine and it’s never the life you think you want even when it’s all you’ve ever wanted.
It is a genuinely good time at the movies, and I say that as someone who is more than willing to throw the entire music biopic genre in the trash. It’s exciting and obscene and engaging and all around fun, with “Rock DJ” and “Let Me Entertain You” being some of most well staged, well choreographed musical numbers I’ve seen in a while. There’s as much heart as there is hedonism, and these things make “Better Man” one of the better music biopics outings we have.
I didn’t once think about “Walk Hard,” even when the cliches of that territory appeared, and that’s the real litmus test. Even if you don’t know who he is or why you should be interested in watching a CGI Monkey sing you love songs and do drugs, I’d recommend you let Robbie Williams and his CGI Monkey entertain you. It’s what he’s best at and for the first time in a long time, he brings the right energy to a genre that desperately needs something different. While it may be conventional on paper, but its unconventional packaging delivers a wallop of entertainment often missing from these kinds of things.
Simply put, “Better Man” is better than most, and better than almost every music biopic in the last 5 years. Yes, even the award winning ones.
Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars
“Better Man” is now playing in theaters. You can watch the trailer below.