Don’t know what to watch? Are you overwhelmed by how many movies there are nowadays? Gordon Briggs’ Reel Talk is here for you. Every month, this column highlights three films from movie history that are worth your time.
It appears that the musical biopic is here to stay. With the success of movies like “Elvis,” “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Bob Marley: One Love,” and the recent movie “Michael,” stories about the lives of beloved music stars have been hits with audiences.
However, many critics have knocked some recent biopics for glorifying their subjects rather than giving us more complicated or nuanced portrayals of them. With this idea in mind, here are three recent musical biopics that are different. These films wander off the map and give us nuanced, satirical and genuinely strange portrayals of celebrities.
“Weird: The Al Yankovic Story”
When I heard they were making a Weird Al biopic, I was skeptical. Thank God it turned out to be a laugh-out-loud funny film. The filmmakers know we have seen many biopics before and use that to their advantage.
Anchored by another clever comedic turn by Daniel Radcliffe, this movie completely ignores the reality of Weird Al’s life in favor of gut-busting scenes that mock the self seriousness of biographical cinema (it’s funny how much Al’s dad hates the accordion).
Weird Al’s quest to become a musician has him killing assassins, battling drug lords and having a torrid affair with pop star Madonna. A parody such as this could’ve easily been “too cool for the room,” but this movie is never smug or condescending in its comedy; there’s a ridiculous party vibe to the movie that’s not only weird, but also welcoming. ★ ★ ★ ½
“Better Man”
After sitting through several so-so musical biopics recently, thank the Lord — this one knows we’ve seen other musical biopics before and adjusted accordingly. With “Better Man,” we get the rise of British pop star Robbie Williams, told through a song and dance musical.
The catch is, Williams has replaced his image with that of a computer-generated chimpanzee. On the whole, the chimp gimmick works better than you think it would.
Rather than give us another story about a musician struggling with drug addiction, the movie breezes over the drug stuff and makes Williams’ fame-generated dysmorphia his central demon. That choice creates a genuinely weird viewing experience where we don’t see the real face of its famous subject or the face of another celebrity playing him. The movie manifests his dysmorphia and forces us to live it.
I will admit that sometimes the musical numbers feel bigger than they should be. I liked it better when this chimp sings love songs for his mom. Still, there’s a real charm to this movie and a welcoming energy to it that’s in keeping with the laid-back adolescent sensibility of its subject. I particularly like the ridiculous full-on battle scene that happens at one of Williams’ concerts that feels like a scene from Woodstock ’99 mixed with “Planet of the Apes.” ★★★
“Piece by Piece”
In my time, I’ve sat through many safe, by-the-numbers biopics about musicians, so I was delighted that this movie about the life of singer-songwriter and producer Pharrell Williams went in a different direction. In a strange mix of documentary and animation, “Piece by Piece” follows Pharrell’s origin story, from awkward teenager to superstar songwriter.
What’s different is how the film tells his story entirely through Legos. Using audio interviews and animation right out of “The Lego Movie,” this film uses multicolored bricks to illuminate the creative process.
For example, Legos are used to visualize Pharrell’s synesthesia, or how he takes apart a song and puts it back together again. If there’s a gripe, it’s that the film’s view of hip-hop is very PG, but I don’t think that’s a dealbreaker. It’s a family film that uses toys, play and pop culture references to illustrate the creative process. ★★★
