It seems like every pop star is getting their biopic these days. The latest to receive the treatment is Robbie Williams. That seemed distinctly unpromising and unwarranted but my interest was piqued by the prospect of Williams being portrayed as a chimpanzee, voiced by the man himself.
That conceit, derived from Williams’ belief that he is immature and unevolved, works pretty well, not only because the CGI is good, as it avoids the issue of finding an actor who could pass for him. The script, penned by Simon Gleeson, Oliver Cole and Michael Gracey (who also directs) does not shy away from showing his issues with drink and drugs and what a terrible person he became as a result.
However, it does follow a well trodden story arc of rise to stardom, throwing it away and finding redemption, and the last, overlong, sequence, where he performs the insufferably self serving ‘My Way’ goes on too long. The frankness and artistic choices put this above recent biopics about Bob Marley and Amy Winehouse, but it does not have the emotional depth or the tunes of, for example, Anton Corbijn’s Control.
Rating: 7 out of 10