Get on Up

The life and times of music legend James Brown has the potential to make a great biopic, but for all its gloss and elaborately staged musical sequences Get on Up falls slightly short of the mark. Chadwick Boseman stars as the self-styled "Godfather of Soul", who was born into poverty and pulled himself up by his bootstraps to become one of the most influential performers of the 20th century, but who also had a knack for hitting the headlines as often as the charts. Director Tate Taylor (The Help) jumps back and forth in time to chronicle Brown's ascent to superstardom, and while he acknowledges the less savoury elements of the uncompromising singer's character, he never dwells on them. Boseman is superb at conveying the charisma that helped make Brown a hero to millions, and there is fine support from Dan Aykroyd as his manager, but ultimately the film is a sanitised version of events that focuses on fame rather than notoriety.