I never knew Robbie Williams as part of the Take That boyband. I knew his name when he was already famous as a British solo artist. When I was a teen, I couldn’t stop staring at MTV when he danced to impress a woman DJ – not only with his nudity but with raw meat and flesh. Bloody Rock DJ was how I got to know Robbie Williams. For some reason, he always seemed pissed off and looked high most of the time. I couldn’t quite believe him when he sang ballads like Angels and She’s the One. “There’s no way he feels so much,” I thought. I was wrong, and today, twenty years later, The biopic movie Better Man showed me why. I was invited to take a peek into the soul of the man who sees himself as an undeveloped monkey and who dreams of becoming someone worthy of love.
The Highs and Lows of Robbie’s Life
Robert Peter Williams, born in 1974 in Stoke-on-Trent, Great Britain, was the son of stand-up comedian Pete Conway and florist Janet Williams. Always misunderstood and overlooked, he had the ambition to become famous and build a name for himself on stage, hoping to earn the love of his dad, who left the family when Robert was just a little boy. After trying his luck in a talent competition, Robert became the fifth member of the boyband Take That, made by Nigel Martin-Smith and led by Gary Barlow, and threw himself into the hectic life of showbiz.
The film portrays the whirlwind of his time in Take That, his journey to becoming a solo artist, his heartbreaking relationship with Nicole Appleton from the pop girl band All Saints, his close bond with his grandmother, and, above all, his fight with alcohol, drug addiction, and, ultimately, himself.
“Everybody else in the movie – they did something bad and I don’t mind throwing them under the bus. But when it comes to Nic (Nicole Appleton), I was the person that did the bad thing – not talking about her getting an abortion. I didn’t do that,” said Robbie Williams. “But she’s wonderful, kind and brave and wants her part of the story shown.”
Some scenes of drug use, need, and withdrawal are so wild that you can physically feel nausea creeping in. On the other hand, scenes taking a closer look into the heart of a boy – and later a man – during crucial moments of his life, being abandoned, pushed aside, betrayed, lost, used, misunderstood, and broken, will move you to tears.
Let’s Talk About the CGI Monkey
When I first saw the trailer for the movie, a question hung on my lips: why a monkey? The answer in Robbie Williams’s world is simple: why the hell not? Biopics like Rocketman about Elton John and Bohemian Rhapsody about Freddie Mercury and Queen all feel the same. So what a refreshing change it is when you see something different!
To my surprise, Robbie Williams didn’t voice the CGI monkey, nor did he sing in the movie. All the credit goes to British actor and singer Adam Tucker from Norfolk, who revealed that it’s a weird claim to fame – having a number-one album in the charts and nobody knowing it’s you and not Robbie Williams.
On another note, Robbie Williams loves eccentricity and has often said he felt like a trained monkey on stage. He has also admitted that his mental development stopped when he became famous – at the age of 16. The monkey represents how he truly sees himself and highlights his struggles with self-esteem and self-worth.
Whether you’re a lifelong fan or new to Robbie Williams, this film is an experience worth having.
- Review: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
- In my heart, it’s a 5-star movie – I loved every minute of it. However, I’m taking one star down because the screen often felt too dark, the Monkey wasn’t voiced by Robbie Williams himself, and the movie was a tad long.
- Trailer
- Go and watch The Better Man at Cineplex today!
Image Source: https://www.bettermanmovie.com/home/
