Review of Get On Up (2014) by Kyle M — 04 Sep 2014

Chadwick Boseman, famously known for portraying Jackie Robinson in the sports biopic "42," plays another black legend this time in music in this musical biopic "Get On Up." He was different than he was in the latter as a baseball player, which makes his performance as James Brown more enjoyable when trying out moves and accent and lip-syncing the James Brown lyrics (I think that what it looks like). Although, he'd done rough moments that were probably at the same level of some of the power that was within the same type of moments in director Tate Taylor's previous drama "The Help.".

Taylor invited his top "The Help" actresses Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer to join in on the fun in the James Brown story. Spencer was pleasant to see again with another good performance, while Davis was doing her usual while being affected by the roughness and desperation (and sadness).

Now that we met Taylor's stars, let's go over the main flaw: the narrative structure and format. When the film started, I was feeling lost after a couple of shifts to different years of the young and old James Brown. It would've been better if it was just straight forward than shifting frequently, even though trying to explain the situation or conflict that came to the film's mind. It was just trying to duplicate Jamie Foxx's "Ray.".

"Get On Up" is more enjoyable than "The Help," but no better than "42." (B+).

(Full review coming soon).