Get On Up Movie Review

October 6^th, 2014:  A visionary, a taskmaster, a petty criminal a mediator and so much more.  More struggling, more hustling, more missteps and more two steps were all part of his past and comprised the majority of his future.  James Brown earned the title, “The Godfather of Soul” and with each passing decade the aura surrounding his musical genius only grew.  And through it all; all the rehearsals, all the travelling, all the polarizing racial divides and gatekeepers along the way, what you have left is the classic journey of a man.  From an impoverished childhood rooted deep in the backwoods of South Carolina and raised on the gospel doctrine to one of 20^th century’s most influential musical revolutionaries, James Brown imparted an R&B and funk explosion unlike any the world has ever seen.

A buzz-worthy biopic of this ilk needed an equally worthy helmer.  And the protracted afterglow from the 2011 Academy Award Nominated The Help with its racial overtones and southern complexities made every Hollywood insider worth their salt sit up and take notice of the new “IT” director Tate Taylor.  Taylor was ripe to plunder the many facets of the James Brown experience and in doing so revealed little known insights into the business savvy, shortcomings, passions and sensibilities that transformed him from the musical wastelands to a mercurial gamechanger in “GET ON UP  The James Brown Story”.

Capturing the turbulent ditch poor early years in rural South Carolina with share-cropper realness is one of many dark turns that get mined.  A happy home was never in little Junior’s purview and this turbulent reoccurring arc becomes a staple of the narrative throughout.  The deeper we dive the tighter “GET ON UP” frames our subject around the tenants of self-reliance and the perils of unresolved emotional freight. The decision cut this biopic into abbreviated dialogue driven vignettes with each seeming to race to a purposeful conclusion mirrors the frenetic ebbs and flows of James Brown as we know him, thus adding nuance and depth of character to an already complicated life.  Academy Award® nominated Viola Davis plays James’s opportunistic mother Susie Brown while Lennie James is the gruff often violent patriarch Joe Brown.  Their tumultuous union of discourse and abandonment imprinted heavily on James with jarring and long-lasting consequences.  As a result, paternal aunt, Honey, Academy Award® winner Octavia Spencer became the only mother James really knew.

Vignettes aside, Chadwick Boseman’s biopic mastery continues unabated proving 42; The Jackie Robinson Story was no fluke.  What develops over the course of two plus hours is a steady diet of credible transformation s, mood altering spirals into paranoia and musical and political milestones that confirms Boseman is the gift that keeps on giving.  Brown’s music and business of show ascendance are the heart and soul of a movie that takes his art very seriously.  Taylor’s ruminations on the rigorous terror laden rehearsals that delved into the JB experience, warts and all, revealed his combative army of one psyche that scarred all who questioned and many who didn’t.  Embattled friendships, shady business arrangements, lawless relationships and an Ike Turner sensibility formed the amalgam that was James Brown.

Like a whirling dervish of split jumps, hot stepping, side shuffles and Baby Baby Babies, “GET ON UP’s” infectious gyrations, toe tapping staccato and head snapping beats populate virtually every scene once James Brown as we knew him became self-aware of his swagger.  The cinematic nourishment to follow is the comfort food equivalent of Brown’s old school jams, classic anthems and back catalogue staples that are given the full Tate Taylor treatment satiating all who watch.  Beginning with his original gospel group, the Famous Flames and the long-standing and often caustic relationship he had with his second in command Bobby Byrd (Nelsan Ellis), we bear witness to the full kaleidoscope of deftly executed production numbers.  The push-pull dynamic with Dan Aykroyd, as Brown’s long-time manager Ben Bart highlights the cantankerous nature of two alphas that refuse to compromise musically as well as in business.