Review of Get On Up (2014) by Jeff A — 08 Aug 2014

Whether you loved him or hated him, James Brown was his own man, and ain't nobody gonna tell James what to do! He did it his way, and earned his place in Music history as the Godfather of Soul for a reason.

Firstly, My biggest concern was how Chadwick Boseman would play Mr Brown, without it just being a cheap, tacky caricature. Success, as we saw with his portrayal of Jackie Robinson in "42" last year, this young man has a bright future ahead of him. and I wouldn't be shocked if his name were to come up round Oscar time. He pulls off the swagger, the garbled James Browm-speak (which sometimes should have subtitles), and then there's the most crucial element: The Dancing. NAILED! Chadwick's got the moves; very nice surprise.

Secondly, I really enjoyed the way Tate puts this film together. In a nice non-linear, out of order retrospective, perfectly erratic to match it's notorious subject matter.

This is a serious biopic, but there's much to laugh and smile at. The sheer audacity of James Brown always made me chuckle. But I dare you to sit through this film and NOT think of Eddie Murphy just once saying: "Hottub".

Fantastic picture.