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Director Michael Gracey is no stranger to musicals or music-focused biopics, known for his work on 2017’s The Greatest Showman and as an executive producer for 2019’s Rocketman. His follow-up to the former found him approaching British pop star Robbie Williams for a movie about his life. Yet, as Williams had already opened up about his rollercoaster experience in the limelight for a four-part Netflix series in 2023, Gracey had to put a different spin on things by working with Weta FX, including Luke Millar, Dave Clayton, and Andy Taylor.

As many know, that unique aspect is Williams being portrayed by a CGI monkey, a seeming nod to the musician’s 2002 song “Me and My Monkey,” with actor Jonno Davies putting in the hard work to get the singer’s mannerisms right. The move could have been gimmicky, but Davies, Gracey, and the rest of the crew made it as real and powerful as possible rather than a poorly executed CGI attempt. They even scanned Williams’ eyes to include on his monkified self, making it feel all the more real. 

For recreating Williams’ Knebworth concert, Davies performed to a real crowd in Serbia in the motion-capture suit. In the “Rock DJ” sequence, Gracey gathered a bunch of extras and shut down Regent Street in London to film the dance. The result was choreography that’s just as catchy as the song is, plus some entertaining additions, including an in-song costume change and incorporating pogo sticks. The extravagant sequence finds Williams at his happiest on the rise to fame in the music industry. 

Not to mention, the transitions of the visual effects are absolutely stunning and seamlessly woven into the songs, making it worth it to see Better Man several times — which I plan on doing. Throughout the film, viewers who were relatively unfamiliar with Williams before see him go from a child with big dreams of fitting in and making his dad proud, reveling in the excitement of his meteoric rise in the boy band Take That, and then struggling to find his footing as a solo artist. 

His depression, substance abuse, and the harassment of the paparazzi collide a few times. One particularly moving moment finds Williams being self-destructive, trying to avoid crashing into cars while speeding, only to hit one and find himself submerged underwater — surrounded by camera flashes as he tries to escape. 

Williams’ life details a heartbreaking teenage stardom route that has destroyed many who head down that path, but he has managed to find peace, self-acceptance, and even a sense of normalcy with a family. He has become the better man he dreamed of being.

Better Man is currently playing in theaters.
You can find our review of the film here.