Better Man (Michael Gracey, 2024)

[domino harvey]

Could not believe this was true, but it is: Paramount paid $25 MILLION for North American rights to the Robbie Williams as an ape biopic Better Man, to predictable returns (for everyone but Paramount execs, I guess). For those who are not Americans, let me explain: no one here knows who Robbie Williams is. It does not matter how big he is in your country, I’m not exaggerating: no one here knows him or wants to know him

[beamish14]

Could not believe this was true, but it is: Paramount paid $25 MILLION for North American rights to the Robbie Williams as an ape biopic Better Man, to predictable returns (for everyone but Paramount execs, I guess). For those who are not Americans, let me explain: no one here knows who Robbie Williams is. It does not matter how big he is in your country, I’m not exaggerating: no one here knows him or wants to know him

My sister (like me, raised in Los Angeles), was obsessed with him circa 1999-2000. I remember hearing “Millennium” constantly on FM rotation, but I was shocked that it did not hit the U.S. top 40.

His appearance on MTV Cribs (which apparently used Jane Seymour’s house!), will haunt me forever

[thirtyframesasecond]

There is a lot of culture that is huge in the UK or US that doesn't translate well in the other country.

The film is supposed to be reasonably OK/inventive, isn't it? I couldn't stand Robbie Williams but his over-confidence clearly masked a huge number of demons.

[Never Cursed]

Could not believe this was true, but it is: Paramount paid $25 MILLION for North American rights to the Robbie Williams as an ape biopic Better Man, to predictable returns (for everyone but Paramount execs, I guess). For those who are not Americans, let me explain: no one here knows who Robbie Williams is. It does not matter how big he is in your country, I’m not exaggerating: no one here knows him or wants to know him

If I told you that one of the biggest awards season contenders of the year, and an American film to boot, not only opens with one of his songs, but uses it as a transcendent leitmotif through its first half, would you believe me?

[domino harvey]

Ha I guessed it in one try. Based on that and the above anecdote, there is some awareness in LA (where Paramount execs too no doubt live)

[Mr Sausage]

Could not believe this was true, but it is: Paramount paid $25 MILLION for North American rights to the Robbie Williams as an ape biopic Better Man, to predictable returns (for everyone but Paramount execs, I guess). For those who are not Americans, let me explain: no one here knows who Robbie Williams is. It does not matter how big he is in your country, I’m not exaggerating: no one here knows him or wants to know him

If I told you that one of the biggest awards season contenders of the year, and an American film to boot, not only opens with one of his songs, but uses it as a transcendent leitmotif through its first half, would you believe me?

Unlike Domino I can't guess. Which is it?

[swo17]

Hint: The song is not credited to him but to a band he was in

[thirtyframesasecond]

Hint: The song is not credited to him but to a band he was in

Aha, there is a Take That song in the opening of Anora iirc

[spectre]

Better Man just took home the top prize at the AACTAs, which ostensibly recognises the best "Australian" film of the year. If there's a more damning reflection on the benighted state of the Australian film industry, I'm yet to see it (though the same prize being handed to Elvis two years ago comes close).

[domino harvey]

Well, at least Damon Herriman from Justified won an award (and is in this, I guess)

[Mr Sausage]

Well, at least Damon Herriman from Justified won an award (and is in this, I guess)

A genuinely versatile and gifted actor, too. If it weren’t for his distinctive looks, I’d never believe the guy who played Dewey Crowe is the same guy in Mr. Inbetween and Mindhunters.

[GaryC]

Better Man just took home the top prize at the AACTAs, which ostensibly recognises the best "Australian" film of the year. If there's a more damning reflection on the benighted state of the Australian film industry, I'm yet to see it (though the same prize being handed to Elvis two years ago comes close).

It had the most AFI/AACTA Award nominations of any feature film to date - sixteen - so I guessed this win was on the cards.

[GaryC]

Better Man just took home the top prize at the AACTAs, which ostensibly recognises the best "Australian" film of the year. If there's a more damning reflection on the benighted state of the Australian film industry, I'm yet to see it (though the same prize being handed to Elvis two years ago comes close).

Three of the six Best Film nominees I haven't seen yet, so hard to comment, but of the three I have seen the one I enjoyed most was Late Night with the Devil. Furiosa picked up some technical awards. Memoir of a Snail (which won Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress) I'm seeing when it opens in the UK next week.

[pianocrash]

Though it's mostly out of theaters in the USA, Taylor Tomlinson has been doing her best to spread the word about this film, even if she technically works for the parent company three days a week.

[PfR73]

This is getting released on 4K/Blu-ray in May as a Paramount Presents release, the first time a new release title has come out under that branding.

[spectre]

Better Man just took home the top prize at the AACTAs, which ostensibly recognises the best "Australian" film of the year. If there's a more damning reflection on the benighted state of the Australian film industry, I'm yet to see it (though the same prize being handed to Elvis two years ago comes close).

It had the most AFI/AACTA Award nominations of any feature film to date - sixteen - so I guessed this win was on the cards.

Definitely, and of course once it was made eligible it was fair game for voters (though I still wish they'd made a bolder choice, even given the somewhat lacklustre range of nominees; the AACTAs rarely takes notice of anything genuinely pushing artistic boundaries, like the smaller critically acclaimed films that have been selected at the Rotterdam and Berlin film festivals in recent years). I can't say I adored Memoir of a Snail, but it's an impressive and distinctive work of stop-motion animation and there's no questioning that film's Australian credentials on the screen as well as at all levels of production.

I'm not saying that it's always easy, in this age of transnational productions being the norm rather than the exception, to have a clear sense of where the borders of national cinema end. But the absence of Australia itself in Better Man as anything more than a stand-in for overseas locations, while its few Australian actors adopt British accents, all in service of a story about a real-life British pop musician who has no connection to this country whatsoever, should raise questions of why it was made here in the first place (and particularly why the national film funding body chose to put money behind it, besides of course the current drive to rent out Australian studios to as many Hollywood productions as possible, ostensibly in service of giving Australian crews much-needed work). It all seems like a rather grim situation to me, and I think it's something that smaller countries with struggling film industries need to grapple with, lest they begin to lose any sense of cultural identity on screen.

[swo17]

Isn't Michael Gracey Australian?

[GaryC]

Isn't Michael Gracey Australian?

He is, from Melbourne. The film stands as an Australian coproduction, though, which is what qualified it for the AACTAs.

[The Curious Sofa]

Considering I've never had any interest in Robbie Williams or Take That and that pop star biopics are my least favourite sub-gerne, this was pretty great. And if I had to choose a 2024 musical over Wicked or Emilia Perez, this would be the one.

[MichaelB]

My son went to see it for VFX-homework reasons, having precisely no knowledge of or interest in Robbie Williams, and said that it was surprisingly good fun.

[The Curious Sofa]

Having Williams be a chimpanzee may seem like a gimmick, but its a surrealist conceit that frees the film from claims to authenticity and the dutiful impersonations that are more uncanny valley than this CG animal and that weigh down these types of biopics. I also liked the grainy, over-saturated look of the film, and the big musical numbers are quite spectacular.

[colinr0380]

Of course, the big question is how it measures up to the Dairy Milk advert, or the Coldplay music video.

Or whether Robbie really should have stuck with cats!

[zedz]

Of course, the big question is how it measures up to the Dairy Milk advert, or the Coldplay music video.

Or whether Robbie really should have stuck with cats!

That's the trouble with the youth of today. No knowledge of the classics.

Coo-ee, Mr. Shifter!