Get On Up

Starring: Chadwick Boseman, Nelsan Ellis, Dan Aykroyd, Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, Lennie James, Fred Melamed, Craig Robinson, Jill Scott, Tika Sumpter, Allison Janney
Directed by: Tate Taylor
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Biography, Drama, Music
2014

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: James Brown rises from extreme poverty to become the godfather of soul.

Review:

Tim: Get On Up suffers a little because of the surfeit of musical biopics coming out of Hollywood in the last decade. I'm sure James Brown's life was unique and different from his contemporaries, but the presentation of his story followed fairly closely to many similar movies. While I appreciated the nonlinear quality of the story, it basically follows the same format- person grows up poor, turns to music, becomes a star, suffers from personal defect that emerges from stardom (often drugs/alcohol, but here it was just ego), hits rock bottom, and makes their comeback. Yes, I'm describing this film, but how many other musical biopics could that cover? Watching this movie, I just felt like I'd see it before.

The single biggest strength of the film is the very strong performance of Chadwick Boseman as James Brown. Boseman did a good job portraying Jackie Robinson and once again delivers a believable, exceptional performance here. When you add in his performance of Floyd Little in The Express, Boseman is becoming the go-to guy for playing real-life African-Americans. As good as he was in 42, I just felt like I was watching James Brown. It's the main reason to see this movie. I really think Boseman's career has no limit to it at this point.The guy should win an Academy Award someday.

The supporting cast here was very strong as well, although I do wish they had a bit more screen time. Nelsan Ellis was a nice addition as Brown's long-suffering companion. I always enjoy seeing Dan Aykroyd, but I thought he was particularly strong here.Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer were fine additions, but they seem to be the go-to pair for African-American, real-life movies. I hope they continue to branch out, or casting directors find other top talent for these kinds of roles. I'm a huge fan of Lennie James and I thoroughly enjoyed his small but strong performance. It's always fun seeing Craig Robinson as well. Truly, as a whole, the cast is an asset to this movie.

As I mentioned, the nonlinear aspect of the story was appreciated. I liked jumping around to various points in Brown's life. The danger of doing this is that the story could come across as disjointed. Except for a few moments, this isn't the case. I had no trouble following the story and it was fun putting the pieces of the puzzle of his life into order. There were a few moments where I did get confused about the time period, but it wasn't too bad.

Now, Tate Taylor mostly does a good job with the film. It was interesting and entertaining. However, the movie is just too long at 139 minutes. I get how difficult it is to condense a man's life into a couple of hours, but this film asks us to sit for quite a long time and the payoff isn't quite on par with the effort required. By the end of the movie, I was ready for it to be over. I wouldn't say that I disliked the movie- Get On Up absolutely has its strengths. However, it doesn't do enough to differentiate itself or emerge as especially memorable. The film is decent, but that's about it.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 6.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Walk the Line, Ray, Dreamgirls, Jersey Boys, 42, The Express