Get On Up

Get On Up, the latest film from the director that bought the bestselling novel The Help and the terribly unfunny Pretty Ugly People to the screen, Tate Taylor now brings to theaters what has to be the worse idea for a James Brown biopic, Get On Up. This movie is the most disjointed, unfocused, surface only story of the Godfather of Soul that could have possibly been made. I would have given this movie barely a bucket of Killer Korn but because of the amazing performances of the incredibly talented cast, I'm giving it two and a half.









A few days ago I was in a cab and the driver and I got to talking about James Brown and the driver asked me who I thought could play him. I said the only one that could play "the hardest working man in show business" was dead. He asked me who that was and I said "James Brown". I now reject that statement outright because after watching Chadwick Boseman talk, dance, and sing like Mr. Brown I now feel there are two people that could play Mr. Dynamite. Chadwick Boseman didn't impress me in 42 so when I heard he was pegged to bring James Brown to life in his biopic, I was apprehensive. In 42 I felt his performance was stiff and lacked any real emotion and I viewed him as a mediocre talent. After seeing Get On Up I now know that Chadwick is an amazing talent with no limitations, for him the sky's the limit. Sadly though his amazing performance was saddled with a muddled, milquetoast vision of James Brown and his life. Get On Up was more dancing and singing than truly delving into the man himself. It was Ray without being anywhere as good as that film, and Ray could have been so much better. Could it do for Chadwick what Ray did for Jamie Foxx? Perhaps. The possibility for Chadwick winning an Oscar is not inconceivable, not with his scintillating portrayal.

In a movie that was directed by a white man, produced by white people, with a script written by two white men from London, England it's really no surprise that this movie did not touch on what Black people loved most about James Brown. That probably explains why I was the lone Black face in the theater. Black people are staying away from this movie in droves because they somehow instinctually know they will leave disappointed, like I was. There were things I was hoping this movie would reveal about one of the most important and influential men in music and in the end the few things I hoped to learn weren't even discussed in passing. Quite frankly this was a flat out embarrassment to the legend and James would be pissed off that this movie is supposed to represent him to the world and somehow tell his story.  I would like you to read the article penned by award winning screenwriter Gregory Allen Howard about what went on as they put this movie together, The Whitewashing of James Brown. It's extremely telling how Black peoples opinions are viewed as not important.

The cast was an impressive one so the performances were amazing. Viola Davis played mother Susie Brown, Nelsan Ellis from True Blood fame played Brown's best friend Bobby Byrd (portrayed in this movie with having NO backbone), Lenni James played father Joe Brown, Dan Aykroyd played promoter Ben Bart, Oscar winner Octavia Spencer played Aunt Honey, Craig Robinson played the amazing Maceo Parker, Tika Sumpter played Yvonne Fair, and Jill Scott played James' last wife Deedee Brown. Sadly everyone in the cast (other than Dan) proved to be the only Black faces that had anything to do with this movie, but they were amazing. The film itself cut have been trimmed by at least fifteen minutes and it made me wonder if the people responsible for this went to the Quinton Tarantino school of film making. The story jumped all over the place which made it hard to focus at times.

I walked out of Get On Up the same way I walked in and that was upsetting. My memories of James Brown weren't enhanced, I wasn't shown anything new that I didn't already know about and since that was the case, it makes one wonder why do the damn movie in the first place. The answer to the question came as I was exiting the theater. I passed an elderly white couple as the man was trying to explain to his companion exactly what "the groove" was. This movie wasn't made for Black people to see, learn more about, and enjoy their hero, it was made for white people strictly. White people who had no idea what James was talking about when he was talking about "the groove". If you were looking for any real insights to the legend, stay away from this movie and everything that has to do with it. If you want to see Chadwick Boseman light up the screen then check it out and enjoy him as he does his thing and I'll see you at the theater.