Get On Up Review

Finally got to see Get On Up

SPOILER FREE

Chadwick Boseman scores again with Get On Up. First exploding onto the screen with a similar biography film titled 42, the Jackie Robinson story which also was met with positive results, we now
have the same actor playing the title role of the great musician icon James Brown. There is sincere hope that he doesn't end up becoming typecasted as the hollywood go to guy for making biographies on famous African American individuals. He should be given the chance to branch out and show a wider range of his talent. While his performances are not on the level of Oscar winning material just yet, he crafts very strong performances of the larger than life figures that he plays. Get On Up works as a biographical piece mainly due to the strong acting performances, and showing James Brown's rise to fame in the late 1960's to 1970's era. During this process we also get glimpses into his childhood and the conflict between him and his mother which was an unsettling one. This pattern is similar to the 2004 film Ray starring Jamie Foxx as Ray Charles in which we also see flashbacks of his young life with the death of his brother, and his mother giving him subliminal messages during his heroin use. What both movies accomplish by doing this is they show that both men are human behind all the money and fame. They are flawed individuals as Get On Up shows with James Brown's drug use and defiance with the law. Dan Aykroyd provided a strong supporting role as one of Brown's backers, and their relationship is the heart of the film. This is a fitting homage to the iconic legend, and packs a great soundtrack from the legend himself to go with the great acting. If there any criticisms of this movie to mention, it would probably have to be that they focused alittle too much on the business side of his life, and not get more personal with his inner demons as he clearly had some. Ray did such a great job of balancing both his business and personal life,while also showing his issues behind the curtain. Get On Up wasn't quite as successful at following the same pattern, but it works as a piece of quality filmmaking and a fitting homage to the musical legend.

Note: This movie came out way too early in the year to be considered for an Oscar nom, but if it were to be considered for any nominations, Chadwick Bosemen deserves a nomination. One of the better films of the summer this far.

                                                                                                                                       8 out of 10