A still from ‘Better Man’
| Photo Credit: Paramount Pictures

I am sceptical if a more banana (no pun intended, seriously) of a biopic could arrive this festival season than Better Man, which is The Greatest Showman-maker Michael Gracey’s captivating film on the life of British pop star Robbie Williams.

Let’s get this underway first: Better Man isn’t that trailblazing film that tells you the answers to the universe’s mysteries. At its chassis, this adrenaline-pumping musical biopic only tells an all too familiar story of an unruly artist and his cocaine-fuelled slides in and out of self-apathy, addiction, heartbreak, fame, and mountains of insecurities.

But then what elevated Better Man into one of the most fun experiences on the opening night of the 55th International Film Festival of India was this: it’s an all-out musical with wonderfully choreographed and pristine-looking set-pieces. Secondly, Gracey exhibits extraordinary control over a narrative that moves in and out of reality and fantasy. And, as you would have guessed, the central character is a CGI-generated monkey, voiced by Williams and Jonno Davies, and fully enacted for motion capture by Davies.

All this monkeying around seemed like a mere gimmick from the promos of Better Man, but then this distinctive feature of the biopic is also its most daring endeavour. Gracey has taken seed of the idea, as he says in a message before the screening, from how Williams grew up looking at himself as a less evolved human being. Better Man doesn’t treat this as a joke but uses it to spotlight the humour and irony in everything around Williams.

Thanks to the voice acting and good CGI magic that captures nuanced expressions and body movements, in mere minutes into the film, yours truly suspended the fact that this was a monkey. If anything, that only credits Michael Gracey’s film, co-written along with Simon Gleeson and Oliver Cole, as an attempt true to the human element at its core. Most of the emotional beats in the script manage to strike hard.

It all begins when Robbie Williams wasn’t Robbie Williams, but only Robert, a kid who lives with his nan (Alison Steadman) and mother (Kate Mulvany) in the underbelly of Stoke-on-Trent, and wishes to see if he has the ‘it’ that his father (Steve Pemberton) had said (before he abandoned him) all superstars are born with. He’s bullied around and deserted by friends, but even as a child, Robert displays a talent for putting on a show. As a teen, he actualises a position on the music scene after becoming a part of the hot and new boy band, Take That. Strap on your seatbelts as, from here on, Better Man rockets into the night sky.

Gracey’s explosive style of filmmaking makes every musical set piece — one more over-the-top than the other — count. One such sequence comes immediately after Take That, with the help of their manager Nigel Martin-Smith (Damon Herriman), secures a new record label. The sequence where Robbie meets his lady love, All Saints singer Nicole Appleton (Raechelle Banno), is gorgeously shot and choreographed; a regular meet-cute on a yacht, after Robbie is humiliated out of Take That, is blown into something straight out of Disney’s handbook. With every song, you wonder if Gracey just wanted to pump more money and test the limits of how bizarre it could get.

A still from ‘Better Man’
| Photo Credit:
Paramount Pictures

It surely must take guts and an audacious conviction to say, let’s push a musical to its unconventional peak, not because it could be done, but because it must be. This is a film that either works for you or doesn’t; regardless, it is undeniably eccentric. In one instance, the sound of a toilet being flushed in the background is imposed on the image of Williams drowning a drink. The crazy reaches its peak at a Planet of the Apes-esque sequence where Robbie sings at Knebworth Park, the historic concert that cemented his position as a pop star of the ages.

Again, while this is the most unusual of biopics, is it the most piercing portrayal of a troubled man? I am unsure. A few emotional beats are opaque, like why Williams couldn’t pull himself up and amend his relationship with Nicole. But then, when you wonder how a real-life pop star had trusted the vision of a filmmaker to dig so deep into his troubles, baring naked his vulnerabilities, Better Man is triumph enough.

Better Man was the opening film of the 55th International Film Festival of India

In adapting Renée Knight’s novel “Disclaimer” into the Apple TV+ limited series, writer-director Alfonso Cuarón enlisted fellow Academy Award winners Cate Blanchett and Kevin Kline to play its central arch-nemeses. Over seven “chapters,” the two share relatively little screen time. But their eventual pas de deux will send viewers scrambling to rewatch the smoke-and-mirrors mystery thriller to uncover everything that initially went unnoticed.

The Envelope sat down with Blanchett and Kline for a quick chat over Zoom at the end of a long London press day 48 hours before the series’ debut. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

I would be remiss in not asking you about working with your respective onscreen spouses, the great Lesley Manville and Sacha Baron Cohen.

Kevin Kline: [Lesley’s] a brilliant actress. It’s such a joy. It was a great, great experience working with her. She’s no-nonsense. Or else the character was no-nonsense. Anyway, just very stiff-upper-lip and very English about things. That was inspiring.

Cate Blanchett: I was working with Sacha, who is [an] absolute genius at what he does. But this is part of a departure he has been making in recent years. He was so open to the experience. It was really great. We talked a lot about the relationship. We had a lot of time to talk, because Alfonso works quite slowly. I really relished those conversations. … The one thing we should say is also our sons [Louis Partridge as Jonathan Brigstocke and Kodi Smit-McPhee as Nicholas Ravenscroft] — talk about phenomenal actors. I have always wanted to work with Kodi, back from his very first film, when we were producing theater in Australia. Desperate to work with him. To me, at the heart of this piece is the relationship of fathers and sons, and mothers and sons, and two parallel families. It was an absolute joy to work with Kodi.

Without divulging spoilers, please tell me about shooting your pivotal sequence.

Kline: Well, it’s on Cate. It’s mostly listening for me.

Blanchett: That’s easier said than done. There are qualities of listening, Kevin.

Kline: Well, I was hoping you’d say that. [All laugh.] I was very attentive, and listening with quite a deeply ingrained bias about what I’m hearing and what I’m believing and doubting.

Blanchett: But your character’s been goading my character for such a long period. It’s a very unlikely setting for a very unlikely unburdening. And so, the strangeness of the setup, really, informed the way we shot it. Also, knowing — I talked to Alfonso a couple of days before we started to do it — there would be flashbacks in there, we decided to then shoot all 40 pages to camera rather than treating some as voice-over and flashback, so that we got the whole story, and then he could work out what he wanted.

Kline: Which was extraordinary to me. … [Cate] narrates the whole story to my character, and she just did it! It’s just a phenomenal leap of faith and talent.

Is this the first time you’ve worked together?

Kline: Yeah.

Blanchett: Is it the last?

Kline: I believe so. [Both laugh.]

(Jennifer McCord/For The Times)

In general, what surprised you about each other?

Blanchett: Alfonso’s quite exacting about what he wants. So, we had to sort of find a way of all working together in a similar way. I was so taken — [to Kline] I mean, I knew your invention, your wit, your humanity, all of that. And your craft. That was unsurprisingly brilliant. But I think your patience and your openness to the process, I was —

Kline: I was just gonna say all those things about myself. But also, I would add that —

Blanchett: More of a curmudgeon. [Both laugh.]

Kline: It’s always interesting to watch your fellow actors working with the same director you are, obviously. My first film experience was working with Meryl Streep on “Sophie’s Choice.”

Blanchett: It’s all been downhill since then, is that what you’re saying?

Kline: Pretty much, yeah.

Blanchett: Look where he is now. [Laughs]

Kline: I know. … I just learn so much watching my fellow actor.

Blanchett: Watching you. You were exceptional. I mean, it was unbelievable.

Kline: The degree of confidence Meryl exuded. I go, “Wow! She just doesn’t question herself at all. How do you do that?” And then [indicates Blanchett], I got the same vibe from this one.

Blanchett: Oh, I question myself plenty, don’t you worry.

Kline: Well, I suppose we all do. But when someone’s acting with authority, you forget. It doesn’t matter what past things of theirs you’ve seen them do. There’s just a presence you react to. I’m not making any comparisons, but [affected voice] I’ve worked with some of the best. [Both laugh.] No, it was just great to watch how Cate works.

(Jennifer McCord/For The Times)

What would you like audiences to leave with at the end of “Disclaimer”?

Blanchett: Well, the most satisfying thing I’ve heard is the fact that you watched it a second time. I can’t tell you the joy and relief that brings me. Because often with episodic storytelling, people either want to binge-watch it, or they’re time-poor, or watch it with two or three other things on board. And there’s so many almost imperceptible details that Alfonso has woven in — and encouraged us to weave into our performances — that hopefully it is rewarding to watch a second time.

Kline: Alfonso is very, very detail-oriented. That’s what struck me the first day of working. I had never worked with a director who was that meticulous and that concerned with foreground, background, decor, costume, hair, makeup, accent, acting, mood, atmosphere.

Is there anything else you want to say in the last minute or two I have with you?

Kline: [Long pause] I’d just like to apologize.

Blanchett: [Laughs, reacts to offscreen voice] They’re saying Kevin has to go. [To Kline] Is that what they’re saying?

Kline: Oh, I have to go. Oh, good! No, no. My performance is indefensible. [Blanchett laughs.] I have nothing more to say. The defense rests. [Both laugh.]

Between limited-edition Starbucks drinks and flamboyant red carpet appearances, “Wicked” has taken the world by storm leading up to its highly-anticipated release Friday. 

The film — part one of the two-part musical — returns audiences to the magical realm of flying monkeys and the Emerald City. The story is inspired by L. Frank Baum’s “The Wizard of Oz” and Victor Fleming’s 1939 film adaptation, this time introducing viewers to younger versions of Glinda the Good and the Wicked Witch of the West. 

“Wicked,” however, is more directly based on the Broadway musical of the same name — which first landed on stage in June 2003 — inspired by the 1995 novel ”Wicked: The Life And Times Of The Wicked Witch Of The West,” from author Gregory Maguire. 

All of this to say, this film has been literal decades in the making. 

The iconic story’s latest installment follows the bubbly, charismatic Galinda Upland (Ariana Grande) and green-skinned outcast Elphaba Thropp (Cynthia Erivo), whose initial rivalry leads to an unlikely friendship. 

Despite their distinctly different backgrounds, the popular girl and the pariah are forcibly introduced as roommates at the esteemed Shiz University, where they discover a shared aspiration to become sorceresses.

Animosity gives way to affection as the pair bond over newfound similarities, beautifully represented in the fan-favorite musical number “Popular,” during which Grande’s vocals greatly impress. The playful, whimsical scenery and vibrant takes on the Broadway production’s original costumes — both in this scene and throughout the whole film — add to the fun, enhancing the pair’s chemistry and lighthearted energy of the scene.

For a film centered on kindred spirits, soulmates and finding oneself, its messages are patently present in the relationship between Erivo and Grande, both on and off the screen. 

During their press tour, the decorated actress and renowned pop star have repeatedly referenced their deeply loving friendship, which began blossoming on set. Viral clips of the two crying mid-interview(s) began circulating, drawing both curiosity and criticism from fans.

Erivo responded to these criticisms in a Buzzfeed interview, discussing the importance this project holds to the cast. 

“We keep trying to say it’s not that we’re just crying out of nowhere. This experience was, like, a huge, life-changing, crazy, emotional thing,” Erivo said during the interview. 

When bringing a Broadway musical to the big screen, there can be many challenges — in particular, finding a film cast that can live up to that of the theater production. And yet, director Jon M. Chu transforms the two-hour-and-30-minute Broadway musical into a two-part cinematic journey, with the first segment alone clocking in at two hours and 40 minutes. 

In its extended runtime, the film expands on Elphaba’s backstory and further explores the world of Oz, offering more action-packed sequences that could never be realized on stage. 

Songs once limited to a theater setting now unfold in open landscapes, including the iconic sweeping tulip fields of Oz. Elphaba is also no longer confined to staged illusions of flight, with the film showing Erivo soaring through the air above the Emerald City’s towering green spires, giving audiences a never-before-seen glimpse into Oz.

The film medium also allowed for more opportunities to get creative with costume design, something Paul Tazewell took full advantage of. 

According to an article from People Magazine, the film’s costume team created over 1,000 costumes in total. Grande has 25 total looks spread over the two films — compared to the nine costume changes in the Broadway production — each of which provides a playful, sparkling addition to the witch’s iconic wardrobe. 

Fans of the original Broadway production will not be disappointed by Erivo’s exhilarating performance of “Defying Gravity” in the finale of the first act. Erivo’s wide range of vocals combined with the vibrant cinematography and action-packed conclusion create the perfect segue to the second part — set to release Nov. 21, 2025. 

All in all, “Wicked” does justice to the original musical’s beloved soundtrack and storyline, while also highlighting bold, colorful cinematography and voices new to the world of Oz.

Though the nearly three-hour runtime might discourage some viewers, the film maintains its allure with witty humor and impressive performances from both Erivo and Grande. The supporting cast, including Jonathan Bailey, Michelle Yeoh and Jeff Goldblum, also shines, contributing to the experience of the film. 

Sure enough, “Wicked” has everything that really counts to be popular this weekend at the box office. 

Rating: 5/5