Starring: Robbie Williams, Jonno Davies, Steve Pemberton, Alison Steadman, Kate Mulvany, Damon Herriman
Distributor: Roadshow Films
Runtime: 134 mins. Reviewed in Jan 2025
Reviewer: Fr Peter Malone msc
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A singular profile of British pop superstar Robbie Williams.
Whether you know all about British singer, Robbie Williams and his extensive and successful career, or whether you know nothing about him, this film is an extraordinary cinematic experience. It is based on the Robbie Williams memoir. And, while this film might be called a portrait or a biopic, it takes a different path from the usual.
It is an overview of Williams’ career (though checking on his initial years in the boy band, Take That, then his solo career, reuniting with Take That, collaborating with many artists, tours, it reveals that there is far more to his activities and success than the film indicates).
But, it might be also described as a portrait of Robbie Williams psyche, his confidence and lack of confidence, his self-image, self-deprecating yet highly assertive, alcohol and drug addiction for many decades, erratic antics and behaviour, exploration of family connections, and massive success and awards which might have been his hopes but more than his expectations.
And, the way to do this? The device of Robbie Williams appearing as a chimpanzee. On paper, this might have sounded too risky. However, in the introductory sequences, Robert as a little boy, bullied, emulating his singing father, concern from his hard-working mother, support from a doting grandmother, he does appear as a chimpanzee and the audience is willing to accept this. And, a tribute to British actor, Davies, who appears for the most part as Williams, the Robbie Williams himself, behind the mask, as himself in his later years. With the chimpanzee prosthetics and CGI effects, Davies is still able to create a credible and complex character, in performance, in song, in his torments.
Much of the film was made in Australia with Australian Gracey directing. There are some British actors such as Davies, Pemberton and a pleasing Steadman as the devoted grandmother. But, a great number of the rest of the cast are Australians, led by Herriman as producer Nigel Martin Smith, Mulvany as William’s mother, and and even veteran John Waters as the interviewer Michael Parkinson.
To describe this portrait as a ‘warts and all’ expose is an enormous understatement! So, while the device of having Williams appear in monkey form tells us to look at him differently, especially in his depressed moments, seeing hostile chimpanzee variations of himself in the audiences, condemning him, there is a great deal of virtuoso filmmaking, special effects and editing, for instance a huge musical extravaganza sequence in Regent Street in London, the crowds at the Williams concerts and their adulation, contrasting with quiet moments of personal anguish, the sequence of the funeral of his grandmother.
For those who have followed Williams for more than 30 years in his career, the Take That era and his solo career, there is an enormous range of his songs included here. But the whole film is framed by one song that highlights the initial ambitions, the ups and downs of his career and personal – the Frank Sinatra-gospel affirmation: My Way.
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