A movie about Robbie Williams where they cast him as a CGI chimpanzee, you say? Hmmmm. Intriguing.
Before seeing Better Man I’d seen the trailer a number of times and always wondered, why on earth have they made him a chimpanzee?! What a bizarre thing to do! Getting an explanation for that was what actually got me to see the film I think, more so than a desire to see Robbie Williams’ life story which I felt more across than I’d ever need to be thanks to the Netflix doco about his life released in late 2023.
In light of all that I’m disappointed to say that there is never an explanation for this bizarre creative choice in Better Man. Subsequently I have googled it and found interviews in which the director explains the choice so my curiosity is satisfied but the truth is, I spent this whole film which is otherwise very good being completely distracted by why Robbie was a flippin’ chimpanzee!
One of the joys of this film is remembering what a bunch of complete BANGERS Robbie Williams is responsible for. Unlike some other quite bleak films that are released during awards season, this film actually IS a toe-tapping good time! A baffling good time but a good time nonetheless.
Regular readers will know I’m a big fan of Australian actor Damon Herriman and I’m delighted to say he features in this with some flawless accent work as agent/manager Nigel Martin Smith, alongside other talents like Kate Mulvaney and Alison Steadman as Robbie’s mother and grandmother respectively.
All in all, I did enjoy Better Man but I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more had Robbie been cast as a human. Call me crazy! And/or boring!
Better Man runs 135 minutes, is rated MA15+ and opens on 26 December.