The latest trailer for Robbie Williams biopic Better Man opens with a message from the pop legend. “This is my story,” he says in voiceover. “But I’m not gonna tell it in an ordinary way.”
You can say that again. Director Michael Gracey (The Greatest Showman) is determined not to make a paint-by-numbers biopic, choosing to portray Williams not as a human, but as a singing, dancing chimpanzee (played by Jonno Davies through motion capture).
“To be honest, I’ve always been a little less evolved,” chimp-Williams tells us in the trailer, which showcases the English performer’s rise to fame with the boy band Take That. Honestly, that’s all the justification I need. Bring on the musical monkey business!
If you still need convincing on whether the chimpanzee switcheroo actually works, look no further than Mashable Entertainment Editor Kristy Puchko’s review. “At first,” she writes, “It might seem a cheeky gimmick (or cheeky monkey) meant to hook audiences with the sheer oddness of the choice. But Gracey nurtures this concept, weaving together a collaborative performance with actors and the legendary VFX studio Wētā FX to create a uniquely moving portrait of an artist at war with himself….This results in the best music biopic since the rousing splendor of Elton John’s Rocketman (which Gracey notably executive produced).”
Better Man hits select theaters Dec. 25, and opens nationwide Jan. 17.
