By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 5 cats
Director: Tate Taylor
Starring: Chadwick Boseman | Craig Robinson | Dan Aykroyd | Jill Scott | Lennie James | Nelsan Ellis | Viola Davis
Country: united_kingdom, united_states
Year: 2014
Running time: 139
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2473602/?ref_=nv_sr_1
Thom says: “Strangely, I can maybe blame my age for taking so long to see this gem of a bio-pic. While I have oodles of quibbles about the film the overall effect it left on me was empowering and greatly rewarding. As a music fanatic for most of my life I for many years charted week-by-week lists of my favourite songs, as many as 100. My charts ran from 1963 to 2001 and James Brown ended up as my 13th ACT-OF-ALL-TIME so one would have thought I would have been first in line to see GET ON UP. But I didn’t really know what to expect, so I was thrilled I ended up loving the film, and mostly because I loved the truth and the magic of the great songs. I probably heard 20 #1 songs so I was enchanted from stem to stern.
“But, I have some nit-picks with the overall results. While his voice was perfect & his acting very impressive young Boseman (you loved him in 42) didn’t look anything like Brown. Brown as a youngster is shown in one grim scene after another. I understand the need to show growth from nothing to great fame, but I thought it could have perked up at times. His my-way-or-the-highway mentality is typical of a genius in his position and let’s face it he’s one of the few musical superstars to emerge from a group to continue doing his best work. It was also disturbing to see him brutalize his fictional girl friend played by Jill Scott (Precious Ramotswe). At 139 minutes it stretched some scenes thin.
“Pluses were the extraordinary cast with remarkable performances from always reliable stars like Viola Davis & Octavia Spencer. I was especially moved by the surprising, great performance from Nelsan Ellis (so different from his character on True
Blood) as Bobby Byrd who has a lifelong relationship with Brown that is played for remarkably incisive dramatic turns that enhance the story line. The overall dramaturgy of the film can be awkward at times. But what will live with me forever is the fabulous presentation of the live songs with the classic James Brown dance that mesmerized the afficionado for decades. What I’d now strongly enjoy would be biopics of other beloved musical stars. 5 cats”