Better Man 4K 2024

I could be called biased, as I was once a creepy Robbie fan. I love his voice, his songs. I remember when I first saw TakeThat's 'I Found Heaven' video in the 90s, I didn't quite understand why the most vocal fellow they have is always on the backing tracks.... And I was interested. And then it went from there.

Who could play Robbie better than Robbie? No one, of course. Yes, he played himself, and they put the monkey on top and I think it's a good move. That said, when you look at him, Robbie's features still pop through.

The movie has a good emphasis and balance between very significant moments in his life and not so much. Something important is shown through dialogs and scenes, something important but passable is given through music scenes. And they are terrific. 'RockDJ' takes you through the beginning and success of TakeThat, 'Come Undone' takes you through his fall (an incredible scene, of course, I stopped breathing), 'She's The One' takes you through meeting his beloved and their life, 'Angels' takes you through the death and funeral of his beloved grandmother, 'Better man' takes you through getting his life back on track and the catharsis of Sinatra's 'I did it my way' at the Royal Albert Hall. We are not watching a conventional biopic, but rather a scary but vivid dream of a man's struggle with his demons/complexes. It seems that they could drag him down at any moment, because in every moment of success, they were still with him, hindering him. And he fought back as best he could, not always with good means. But the movie ends on a positive note: the demons/complexes are defeated, and even reconciliation with them in the end. And they stand up and applaud him at the final concert of the movie, along with us. We go through these images together with the protagonist: from the bottom, to success, then the bottom and back to harmony in the soul. This is the kind of emotional roller coaster this movie offers. It is built on images that evoke certain emotions and sympathy for the protagonist, which is hard to find in movies nowadays. Well, maybe the emotional component is still played by music, it always presses on emotions better than pictures.

PS I remember when Robbie suddenly released the album 'Swing When You're Winning', I didn't realize what it was. The whole album was a rehash of Sinatra and pr, similar comrades. Of course, Robbie did well, with his voice and skill (by the way, he didn't sing the songs in his own way, he copied almost one-to-one the originals. I don't like it when they start singing classics to themselves. But Robbie was good, but I didn't understand what it was all about. And then I read that he was always a fan of Sinatra. And in the movie it's all played out. That's why I think the movie is as honest as it can be. It's really Robbie Williams' life.