The moral of this long and boring movie is that human beings are terrible. Even when faced with intelligent, talking apes, humans have a sense of superiority—as if a biblical god has told them they should have dominion over all animals no matter what.
The apes in this movie rule the land like Indians from a 1950s western. I would have said indigenous tribe, but no, they are presented as violent factions prone to infighting. Our chimpanzee hero comes from…
There is a difference between a story and a character study. One is not better than the other, and both can make very engaging movies. A movie like A COMPLETE UNKNOWN, for example, combines unexplained "character study" elements of Bob Dylan’s life as he moves to New York to become a folk-rock musician with the story of how he is inspired by his three muses: his live-in girlfriend, his fellow performer Joan Baez, and his need to keep writing music…
The great advantage a musical biography has over other types of biopics is that the music itself can an easy way to tap into nostalgia and cover up narrative gaps. Audiences in England are no doubt familiar with the songs and story of pop sensation Robbie Williams, from his breakthrough in the boy band Take That to his meteoric rise as a solo performer. Audiences outside of England, however, do not have that advantage. Luckily, Better Man doesn’t need the…
