Better Man

“Let me entertain you!” Robbie Williams famously sang. From boy band euphoria to solo stadium tours, the UK pop star has lived large, loud, and right on the edge. No mere music biopic could do his highs and lows justice. And so Michael Gracey hit on an audacious, dazzling approach. Gather round and witness the life of Robbie Williams unfold in a rather unorthodox way, to say the least.

Gracey draws on his substantial background in visual effects and signature images for pop videos, weaving those skills through propulsive storytelling. All of this elevated his blockbuster debut, The Greatest Showman; here it results in a truly spectacular film. It helps that Williams is one of the most kinetic and deeply self-aware pop stars on the planet.

Better Man begins with young Williams watching his father’s dreams of music stardom swirl around like dust in their cramped sitting room. He absorbs his father’s ambitions — and his crippling self-doubt — but the boy has talent.

Before long he has joined teen idols Take That and they stomp up the charts in a series of showstopping musical numbers. But money and fame bring more doubt, and Williams — played as an adult by actor Jonno Davies — learns the corrosive art of self-sabotage.

With its vibrant music, state-of-the-art visuals, and brilliant “casting” conceit, there may be no movie experience more singular, disarming, and downright entertaining this year than Better Man. And, as a portrait of a tortured, talented star, it’s surprisingly moving.

Content advisory: sexual content, drug use