By: Cynthia Ayala
Get On Up is the biopic about the Godfather of Soul James Brown. However, this movie disappoints on so many levels and fails to live up to the legend.
Directed by: Tate Taylor
Screenplay by: Jez Butterworth & John-Henry Butterworth
Story by: Steven Baigelman, Jez Butterworth & John-Henry Butterworth
Starring: Chadwick Boseman, Nelsan Ellis, Dan Aykroyd, Viola Davis, Keith Robinson & Octavia Spencer
A biopic based on the incredible life story of the Godfather of Soul, the film will give a fearless look inside the music, moves and moods of Brown, taking audiences on the journey from his impoverished childhood to his evolution into one of the most influential figures of the 20th century developing the genius behind his music.
Chadwick Boseman is an amazing actor who astounded with his performances when he takes on iconic characters. That goes for the rest of the cast as well. They were all amazing with their portrayals, with bringing their characters to life and really honing in on all the emotions in the movie. These actors did not shy away from the darker sides of history and the darker sides of their characters.
This was, however, a disappointing film, and that has nothing to do with the cast. Again, each of them was amazing and thought out their parts delivering amazing performances. No, they were not the problem, the problem had to do with the art direction and writing this film decided to take.
The biggest problem this movie had was the flashback. They were not put together well in any way. The flashbacks were not put together well at all. They continued to disrupt the flow of the film. They were so inconsistent and they didn’t conclude when they should have. Near the end of the movie, it jumps to an earlier unfinished flashback and to make it worse, they didn’t even work together to build the film or the intent that the scene was trying to create. It’s obvious that this film was trying to create powerful intentions with this film but it ultimately just got lost in translation. This was just a badly put together film that jumped all over the place.
Another detrimental aspect that this film took in regards to the art direction was the choice to break the fourth wall. That just did not work at all. It was a disaster. It took the viewers out of the film and the point of the film is to submerge the viewer into it. It was awful and didn’t even sit well with this flow of the film.
This is a movie about an iconic and strong figure in history, but this movie did not do it justice. In the end, it fell flat and it shouldn’t’ have. ★ ½ (out of 4 ☆‘s | C-)