BETTER MAN (2024)
The meteoric rise, dramatic fall, and remarkable resurgence of British pop superstar Robbie Williams.

The meteoric rise, dramatic fall, and remarkable resurgence of British pop superstar Robbie Williams.
If the premise of another musician biopic, but starring a computer-generated chimpanzee in the lead role instead of a look-alike actor, sounds a little mad, that’s because it is. It’s the gamble director Michael Gracey (The Greatest Showman) takes with his most recent feature, a biopic on British pop star Robbie Williams titled Better Man. While I was immediately charmed by the idea, many others weren’t and expressed their scepticism regarding the potentially gimmicky approach. What is so interesting or compelling about a chimp singing and dancing as part of a boy band, and snorting cocaine before stadium concerts? Robbie Williams, doing the voiceover, addresses the concerns headfirst in both the trailer and the film:
“This is my story, but I’m not going to tell it in an ordinary way, because I don’t see myself as other people see me. To be honest, I’ve always been a little less evolved.”
So, does it work? Absolutely, and on many levels. As I just stated, the star himself is involved in this biopic, not just as a consultant and executive producer: he does the voiceover narration for the whole thing, and vocals an original song for the film’s soundtrack, “Forbidden Road”. Having a chimpanzee as his avatar lets him tell his story on his terms and gives the viewer a window into his psyche and self-image. We’re far from the objective, documentarian biopic here; Gracey and Williams take a fundamentally subjective point of view to tell this story.
One would be forgiven for thinking or expecting that a biopic with its subject being so heavily involved might turn out self-indulgent or celebratory. However narcissistic Williams admits to being, he also harbours a deep self-hatred, which is on full display in Better Man. His depiction as a chimpanzee sets him apart from the rest of the cast, becoming a visual reminder of his twisted self-image. He doubts himself constantly, questioning his talent, credibility, and legitimacy. His inner critic is brought to life visually too, as his younger selves pop up in the crowd during his gigs to bring him down. Williams’ portrait is far from flattering: he is often acting like a jerk (or a “twat”, to use his vernacular), emotionally distancing himself from his loved ones and making questionable decisions. Better Man embraces Robbie Williams as he is, warts and all, in a surprisingly vulnerable way, considering the gimmick.
The chimp treatment also illustrates how fame can warp someone’s life and the public’s perception. Indeed, the treacherous depths of fame and rock and roll have been explored at length in many biopics over the years, to varying degrees of success. The smoke and mirrors have long been unveiled, so it takes time to tell that story again without sounding like a broken record. Depicting Williams as a chimp gives Gracey a lot of leeway to be creative and weird, as the audience’s disbelief is suspended from the beginning. It gives place to some of the most visually striking and bonkers sequences the genre has seen. The scene that impressed me the most was one set during an outdoor show: in a culmination of his self-loathing, his inner critics bombarded him with criticisms and insults. He leaps into the crowd to face them head-on while performing “Let Me Entertain You”. A bloody battle royale ensues, pitting the pop star against a sea of his younger chimp selves all shredding each other to bits on the muddy terrain. Having Williams portrayed by a human cast throughout his childhood, teenage years, and adulthood would never have made this surreal sequence truly come to life the way the CG ape did.
That brings me to the final reason the chimp approach works: it takes away the pressure and expectation to cast lookalike actors to portray the star. It lets the audience focus on the story and the overall performance without looking at the similarities at every turn. Adam Tucker takes over Williams’ singing voice, and Jonno Davies is the actor largely responsible for the acting performance. He did the motion capture and voice of the character before the visual effects team at Wētā FX applied the computer-generated chimp to his performance. The VFX artists also scanned Robbie Williams’ face to scale the chimp features to his real features and recreated his signature green eyes and dark brows in vivid detail. On top of that, Williams’ varying hairstyles and accumulating tattoos are applied to the CG model, changing over time to fit the timeline. The result is a deftly balanced VFX character that blends real life with the fantastical and convincingly suspends disbelief. The care and attention to detail that went into the finished product is an astounding technical and storytelling feat.
Better Man is otherwise a standard biopic, in the sense that it follows a linear timeline of the pop star’s life and career. From a working-class family in Stoke-on-Trent, Williams (with Carter J. Murphy in the role of a young Robbie) is in awe of his dad, who goes by the stage name Peter Conway (Steve Pemberton). Peter is a small-time entertainer who worships the likes of Frank Sinatra and instils in his young son the misleading idea that fame is the only thing that can truly bring about happiness. After his dad leaves the family behind to pursue said fame, Williams is left to grow up with his hard-working mum Janet (Kate Mulvaney) and his caring nan Betty (Alison Steadman). Determined to be famous, Williams jumps at the occasion when a call to audition is sent out to form a new boy band. He’s chosen to be among the five members of Take That, the UK’s version of New Kids on the Block, before launching his solo career with musical director and co-writer Guy Chambers (Tom Budge).
Better Man doesn’t let itself be dragged down by such things as timeline accuracies, in particular when it comes to choosing songs to punctuate the film’s beats. Instead of shoehorning the film’s sequence of events to fit with the songs’ release dates, Gracey picks and chooses which songs from Williams’ and Take That’s discographies will best accompany the action. Moreover, Gracey takes advantage of musical numbers to go through important story beats faster; his experience in music video directing is clearly on display in those fast-paced, rich sequences.
For example, the sequence set to “She’s The One” introduces Williams’ relationship with All Saints’ band member Nicole Appleton (Rachaelle Bonno). It cuts from a sweet dance number between the two on a romantically-lit yacht to their relationship’s high points. In just a few minutes, Gracey has summarised in detail and poignant emotion some crucial moments in Williams’ young love life. The result is a film that flows better than others in the genre, and is a glowing example of the maxim ‘show, don’t tell.’
That being said, it’s not always to its advantage. While most of the movie is deeply vulnerable concerning Williams’ inner life and struggles, the story’s broad strokes forego a few details towards the end. I wish Gracey had sweated the details a bit more for the conclusion, which is wrapped in a little too neat a bow, albeit an emotionally strong and resonant one. It stays a bit far from its subject, keeping him at arms’ length in the final moments in favour of finishing on a high, positive note. Still, the resulting film is a bright, entertaining beacon until the end.
Unfortunately, the film has been a commercial flop. It only had a limited release across North America, before seeing a wider release a few weeks later, but the box office numbers have been tepid at best. One can certainly blame the fact that the US and Canadian crowd are mostly unfamiliar with the music of Robbie Williams, who rose to fame mainly in the UK, Europe, and Australia. Nevertheless, a film of this quality is certain to have a rich life with audiences far beyond its theatrical run, and will probably be a revelation to those waiting for it on streaming platforms.
UK • USA • CHINA • FRANCE • AUSTRALIA | 2024 | 135 MINUTES | 2.39:1 | COLOUR | ENGLISH
director: Michael Gracey.
writers: Simon Gleeson, Oliver Cole & Michael Gracey.
starring: Robbie Williams, Jonno Davies, Steve Pemberton, Damon Herriman, Raechelle Banno, Alison Steadman & Kate Mulvany.