“Better Man,” a biopic of Robbie Williams — the famed bad-boy boyband member turned successful solo artist — is a bit of a risky undertaking. The singer never achieved the success in America that Freddie Mercury and Elton John did — both of whom are the subjects of other recent musical biopics. Moreover, to make a musical where Williams is played by a CGI monkey (while everyone else is in human form) is just bizarre. Metaphors about him being a performing monkey, a party animal, or just an animal come to mind, but watching Jonno Davies as Williams' chimpanzee form having a sexual encounter as he does in “Better Man,” is, technically bestiality. Thankfully, that awkward scene is discretely filmed in this otherwise maximalist production.
In America, Williams may be best known for his song “Angels” which peaked at 53 on the Billboard Hot 100 (it went to 10 on the US Adult Contemporary chart). In the UK he is known for his cheeky behavior. He opens “Better Man” with a statement that he has been described as “a narcissist, punchable, and a s**t-eating t**t,” but that he wants to show “How I really see myself.” (As a monkey.) The film, however, would surely be better as a conversation with a therapist, rather than an estimated $110 million-budget movie.
