Get On Up (2014), PG-13, ★★★

Chadwick Boseman as James Brown. 

James Brown: "The Godfather of Soul".

I have listened to his music and most of his songs still have fire and spunk that can drive you to dance. But some of his songs, you just have the pleasure to listen because of his lyrics and maybe picture him dancing with his iconic voice and movements on stage. We had James Brown, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, Stevie Wonder, you name it. These musicians and entertainers would be definitely on a list to study in a music course and learn what made them iconic. The movie, however, shows the biographical aspect of the musical standout as diligently as possible and it tries, but there's one performance that stole the spotlight from the story itself.

The movie is not organized as a linear narrative structure, so bear with me. James Brown (Chadwick Boseman) lands in Vietnam during the 1960s to support the black troops fighting for their country. Angered by his plane's right propeller getting hit, James also gets annoyed by the corporal saying his magic is gone and the appreciation for funk music has faded. After the dispute, James put on a show for the troops and they all love his entertainment.

Jump back to 1939 when Little James had a difficult childhood where his mother, Susie (Viola Davis), is playing around with him until his father and Susie's husband comes back home and spent all his money on gambling. Susie confronts him and he harasses her to come to sleep with her. When Susie leaves James behind with his abusive and strict father, he condones James for his singing. As his father goes off to war, he leaves James behind with his Aunt Honey (Octavia Spencer), where she makes James work. Honey also takes him to church where he appreciates the choir singing.

James breaks into a car in his late teenage years and gets arrested, receiving a 5-12 year sentence. As he starts singing with his fellow inmates, a guy spits at James and James hits him starting out a riot. The riot leads to him meeting Bobby Byrd (Nelsan Ellis). They both become friends and after their parole, Bobby convinces his mother to stay with them and his sister, Sarah (Taura Cherne).

When James and Bobby form their band called the Famous Flames, James and his bandmates perform live in front of an audience and they slowly become a hit sensation. They also hire a respectable manager named Ben Bart (Dan Aykroyd). As the band and music become a success, James' relationships with other people start to go sour as he treats his bandmates like nobodies and his communication with his wife seems to be going nowhere. James has to get his act together before it is too late.

James Brown (Boseman) and his bandmates performing on stage.

It is a predictable musical biopic, but, nevertheless, it is a sort of different kind of biopic. I think that the director, Tate Taylor, whose previous work was the 2011 hit, The Help, took courage to not make the movie narratively straightforward but also interweaves the dark and successful events with the people that Brown was caring for to equal his success and/or inspiration and possibly his inner demons. Unlike The Doors, which I think that the music is still worthy to listen to but the movie condescends Jim Morrison a little too much, this movie treats James Brown as he worked very hard to get where he is at but also has selfishness in his ego as success starts to build.

Chadwick Boseman is phenomenal in this role as James Brown getting his accent down, his fashion style right, and even his dance movements as accurate as possible. At times, I thought I was watching Brown perform instead of Boseman acting. It is a breakthrough performance. I don't know if he will be nominated for an Oscar because it's too early, but it is definitely possible that he will be nominated for a Golden Globe in a Comedy or Musical. Nelson Ellis is great as his friend trying to back off as Byrd would always do and leave Brown do his own thing. Aykroyd can still act giving a nuanced performance. Even though, Davis and Spencer have brief roles, they are still remarkable in their limited screen time.

My biggest problem with the film is how it is looked. I feel that the movie becomes a bit too glossy as it is filmed like a Lifetime film. It was sort of a problem for me with The Butler last year. The movie also gets a bit pretentious and disorganized towards the end as we come to the scene where it opens and ends the film. The ending also does not justify too clearly the struggles that Brown and another character overcome as he ends a feud arbitrarily. However, this movie is rousing and entertaining as you just listen and want to get on up and dance to James Brown's music. Thanks to Boseman, this is a film to recommend if you are a fan of not just his style of music but music itself.

***