Get on Up

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source: Get on Up

I'm glad I did not go to the movies and pay full price to see this movie. Get on up was a catchy title and I thought this movie was going to do me more. It did not do me any justice at all. I did not enjoy this movie. It nearly put me to sleep. The acting was pretty good, but maybe I could not get into it since I did not know the life James Brown lived. This was my parents era. The music was nice, but it had a lot of back and forth from present to past tense occurring events that happened in this movie. This is the type of movie where it would show the dates and time periods on the screen. Would I recommend this movie? No....would I watch it again? No.. Was it worth the free red box movie rental, sure.

I loved the sheer energy and dedicated portrayal that Chadwick Boseworth was able to channel from the late Great Godfather of Soul. From the groovy tunes, to the steps but, most importantly for me the voice. Hands down he captured Mr. BROWNS vocals eerily similar to the point of feeling as if the man's spirit was in the theater with you. Yes, we see a small snippet of him as a flawed man and father. We look at his poverty stricken past and what it was like to grow up with extreme segregation and racism. I was able to pity him, love him, want him,hate him,worship him and be awed by him in the small allotted time that I was given. Sometimes the story skips between decades and you never get a full scope of this personal life but you do get a revelation of the genius that he was during a time where being black and about your business, taking no prisoners was not highly thought of or widely accepted.

Great acting, however Tate Taylor knows very little about James Brown. What little he learned about JB he framed in Hollywood glitter. This film was short sighted. This was a poor attempt. Tate was more concerned with his skill as director than the story of James Brown. The music of James Brown should have been closer to the center of the film and instead it was used as a background music for the director's scenes. In no way did the audience get the feeling that JB was the hardest working man in show business. Tate showed us a Hollywood fantasy were James Brown was destined for greatness. No...JB was not. In the post slave trade south he was destined to die as a nobody. James Brown was the hardest working man on planet earth. That's how he made it into show business. Portraying JB in the "destined for greatness Hollywood fairy tale" diminishes the sweat from his brow and the blood in his veins.

I saw "Get On Up", starring Chadwick Boseman-42, The Express; Nelsan Ellis-The Help, The Express; Viola Davis-Ender's Game, The Help and Dan Aykroyd-Tammy, 50 First Dates. This is the life story of James Brown, one of the most influential singers that ever lived. He performed into his 70's and died in 2006, at the age of 74. I say influential because almost everybody that ever saw him perform, tried to copy his moves-Mick Jagger, a producer of this movie, has said that he used to try to dance like James but could not quite get it right, so he improvised his own version. From James' living in poverty beginnings to his living in luxury and having to deal with legal problems; they are all covered. Chadwick plays James and is pretty good in his portrayal; he has the dance moves down. Nelsan plays his best friend and also member of his band. Viola plays Chadwick's mother, who abandoned him at a young age but reappeared with her hand out, after he got famous. Dan plays Chadwick's business manager. A lot of the story is told in flashback and they jump around a lot, showing the good and the bad. I don't think Chadwick does any actual singing because the end credits listed the songs as being performed by James Brown. It's rated "PG-13" for violence, language, drug use and sexual content- but no nudity-and has a running time of 2 hours & 18 minutes. It's not one that I would buy on DVD but it would be alright, as a rental.

Chadwick Boseman plays James brown throughout as strong-willed and highly aggressive egocentric, with no emotional developments or any emphatic insights - the personality of real life James brown has been a lot more complex I'm certain. the real man was quite deep, just watch an original video an focus his facial expressions - this is very different to what boseman played, he shows us someone who acts like he was a stupid and aggressive teenager hiding his personality behind playing strong forever - the movie pervertedly interprets James life as supposedly heartless profit machine. why is it that currently incredibly stupid movies about black music are issued, is there a plan behind this, or did the supposedly "American way of life" marchiavellism infected all film people to the full and made them stupid and ill at heart? strangely enough, many facts of James life are highly changed, probably to enheighten James life to a more heroic level - for what? the way he was, as a real human being, he was great enough - and better than the proto-fascist monster he is depicted as the movie. or is the trouble just that Mick Jagger, who financed the movie, thinks that everybody in music business has the same kind of personality type like he has..??

"Get on Up" is the type of movie that will probably only appeal to insomniacs. When they've tried every method of getting to sleep, and it's playing at 3 AM on HBO, it just may be their only solution. But oddly enough, on the surface, it seems to have all the right ingredients. With Chadwick Boseman fresh off last year's "42" heading the cast as James Brown, along with director Tate Taylor from "The Help" fame, you would think there isn't much that could go wrong. But unfortunately, there's plenty. Jumping back and forth from Brown's childhood to his days in absolute fame, it never quite settles. In some moments it wants to be a dark and gritty drama showing his often scary battles with his father, and in others a lively musical featuring the character directly interacting with the camera and talking to the audience throughout. Obviously deriving from movies like "Dreamgirls" and "Ray", it isn't able to keep a steady (or original) tone that will keep the audience's attention. There's the occasional quick editing trick that may add flare for a second, but none of it is sustained, and it leaves a bland taste in the viewer's mouth. One of the only redeeming qualities is Boseman's interesting performance, but after two hours of referring to himself in third person, his charm wears off as well. Not to mention the ghastly makeup to show his age, and the unfunny jokes that seem to be slipped in during the most inappropriate moments. At it's core, it's meant to be a soundtrack, not a film. The characters have no room to be fleshed out properly in the PG-13 atmosphere and the end product feels watered-down and uneven.