FilmSnobReviews

Title: Get On Up
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Director: Tate Taylor
Starring: Chadwick Bosman, Nelsan Ellis,Dan Aykroyd
Runtime: 2 hrs 18 mins

What It Is?: James Brown, the “Godfather of Soul”, and the “Hardest Working Man in Show Business”. We get the story behind that iconic quaff. From his humble beginnings in rural Georgia, to his chart-busting prime, and eventual fall into mania. We have great music, an interesting story, but one of us has to wonder how you truly tell James Brown’s story on a PG-13 rating. It absolutely stretches anything and everything you can get away with on that PG-13. It lives on that razor’s edge without ever falling into the R rating.

What We Think?: Bosman was the perfect choice to portray James Brown it’s as though he got every nuance you ever expected to see from him. The shoulder shrug, the fleet feet, and that raspy tone of voice he spoke with. Taylor’s direction was interesting, and his structure is sure to please those tired of the old hat formula used in a majority of biopic’s. However, I cannot help but think that they were far too safe in their approach to this man. He was a wildcard, we get that much out of it, we sort of understand he had problems, but we don’t know exactly how the demons got there, and the true price he paid because of them. Adding that pathos would’ve let us understand the man’s actions later in life. Why he lost everything, but more importantly his mind. His relationships with most everyone in this film were strained one way or another, that was crystal clear and the writers did an excellent job of allowing us to understand that.

Our Grade: B-, It suffers from not taking enough risks with the content. But good golly miss molly are there some tunes in this film. And great ones at that, the music in and of itself is just so good you really get why this guy was the “Godfather of Soul”. He made music that spoke to people, of a generation, he changed the game for good. You’ll be dancing in the aisles with this one…go see it!