Better Man

"Fame makes monkeys of us all."

2024 2h 15m EN

🙌

7.6

BANGER

★7.6TMDB · 941

MusicDrama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Follow Robbie Williams' journey from childhood, to being the youngest member of chart-topping boyband Take That, through to his unparalleled achievements as a record-breaking solo artist – all the while confronting the challenges that stratospheric fame and success can bring.

“Fame makes monkeys of us all.”

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Cast

Robbie Williams
Robbie Williams (voice)
Jonno Davies
Robbie Williams
Steve Pemberton
Peter
Alison Steadman
Betty
Kate Mulvany
Janet
Frazer Hadfield
Nate
Damon Herriman
Nigel Martin-Smith
Raechelle Banno
Nicole Appleton

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Michael Gracey
Writers: Michael Gracey, Simon Gleeson, Oliver Cole
Languages: English
Countries: Australia, United Kingdom, United States of America, China, Cyprus

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

$110M budget — tentpole studio territory.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 20% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 2 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 5 countries: Australia, United Kingdom, United States of America, China, Cyprus.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

CAST

Did you know

472+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Michael Gracey, shot by Erik Wilson. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Batu Sener. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Lee Smith shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Michael Gracey directs. Erik Wilson behind the camera. Batu Sener scores. Lee Smith cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in Australia, United Kingdom, United States of America, China, Cyprus. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1$110M budget — tentpole studio territory.
2Earned back only 20% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
3Released 2 years ago.
4International production across 5 countries: Australia, United Kingdom, United States of America, China, Cyprus.
5472+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
6Directed by Michael Gracey, shot by Erik Wilson. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
7Original score by Batu Sener. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
8Editor Lee Smith shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
9Robbie Williams and Jonno Davies and Steve Pemberton carry the top of the cast.
10Marketing tagline: "Fame makes monkeys of us all.".
11IMDB entry: tt14260836 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
12Classified under 23 themes, including "depression", "drug addiction", "musical", "biography".

The technical file

Cinematography: Erik Wilson
Original score: Batu Sener
Editing: Lee Smith
Production design: Joel Chang
Costume design: Cappi Ireland
Makeup / hair: Estelle Horder
VFX supervisor: Luke Millar
Sound: Andy Nelson
Runtime: 135 min · 2h 15m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $110,000,000
Box office: $22,549,151
Return: 20% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Better Man (2024)

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Michael Gracey

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2024-12-28
★ 7/10
There's something about the use of the monkey to characterise Robbie Williams that makes this quite a visceral watch at times. The film tells the story of the fairly turbulent rise of this "Take That" singer from boyhood exponent of Gilbert and Sullivan to a man on the right end of an £80 millions record deal. His dad (Steve Pemberton) went off to a football match whilst he was a child and never came back, and that left him with his mum "Janet" (Kate Mulvany) and adoring nan (Alison Steadman) living a pretty much hand to mouth existence and leaving him with a pretty solid foundation for his later emotional and trust issues. Unless you've lived on the moon these last twenty years, then you'll know much of what happens next. What does make this stand out a little more is the fact that Williams himself is behind the project and is in no way afraid to portray himself as a complete ass. His drink, drugs, tantrums and generally spoilt brattishness are laid bare with little, if any, attempt to sanitise. In some ways it reminded me of the recent "Amy" biopic and came hot on the heels of a recent viewing of "Easter Parade" (1948) with both serving, for completely different reasons, to augment the thrust of this story of a person who attained great stardom, success and wealth - and ultimately ended up with addictions galore and few, real, friends amidst a sea of hangers-on and parasites all too eager to selfishly cash in on the fame of a lad who started aged just fifteen. Of course it's not exactly balanced, and I'm sure the gospel according to Robbie might not be quite how others see their own behaviour (or his) but there is an honesty to this that brings home just how ruthless the music business is and at just how fickle fame can be when those we idolise lose their lustre. It doesn't do it any harm that many of his solo songs work well through big screen audio with some classy string arrangements and powerful vocals to remind us that, unlike many of the largely forgotten "Take That" singles, his music - especially the stuff he made with Guy Chambers - is the stuff we will really long remember. It's not for the faint hearted, but still well worth a watch.

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