Review of Get On Up (2014) by Ray H — 03 Aug 2014

This is a pretty good movie. It is worth seeing for the performance of Chadwick Boseman as James Brown. This guy is a first rate actor. He seems to almost become J Brown. The best scenes are the musical numbers. There is a Paris theatre concert scene with a large number of dancers and band members. There were parts of 3 songs performed. And, there were about 6 or 7 other songs partially depicted. The story of his life was interesting. His mother, Susie (Viola Davis) was seen briefly. But, Ms. Davis was excellent. The aunt who raised him, Honey (Octavia Spencer) is very effective.

On the negative side, the movie makes many shifts in time. The director seemed to be trying to tie the adult Brown to his childhood experiences. Although we know this is common and a truism, the frequency of the technique was sometimes distracting. Also, Brown turned to address the audience through the camera. This technique works better in live theatre.

Brown is depicted as an occasional wife beater. He also was arrested as an adult for going off the rails. He is shown having only occasional alcohol/drug use. But, this apparently led to his later life run-ins with the law.

You should see this film to see Boseman do his thing. It was a good trip to the flics.