Actor Chadwick Boseman "gets on up", and some, in this slick biography of "the Godfather of Soul", James Brown. Boseman won't be familiar to New Zealand audiences but his electrifying turn will put his name up in lights.
It's not just Boseman's physical transformation that's startling; he's also got Brown's
raspy voice, eccentric dance moves, street savvy swagger and stage presence. The success of this film rides on Boseman convincing us he's James Brown from age 16 to 60, and he does it with ease.
Unfortunately, director Tate Taylor's (The Help) narrative isn't quite as smooth, bouncing across the years following Brown from childhood to successful musician. Tate's focus is more Brown's earlier life, chronicling his abusive upbringing, abandonment by his mother and father, and the time spent being raised by his aunt at her brothel.
It's a portrait of a man alone. Shaped by his upbringing, Brown changed the music industry with his sound, and the way he did business. It goes some way to explaining Brown's contradictory behaviour as he walks a fine line between sinner and saint, but these flashbacks also go some way to ticking off the cliches you expect from a rags to riches story.
Though the transitions between Brown's present and past are often technically abrupt, it's an even-handed representation, with plenty of "bad" to go with the "good". The legal troubles and controversy of Brown's later life are passed over briefly, but scenes show Brown hitting his wives, berating his underpaid band, and pushing the friendship with his right-hand man Bobby Byrd to the brink, and contrast with the genius of a hard-working musician.
