Better Man 4K Review (Paramount)

Better Man is a 2024 docudrama musical co-written, produced, and directed by Michael Gracey (The Greatest Showman). It was co-written by Simon Gleeson and Oliver Cole. It was produced by Paul Currie (Hacksaw Ridge, Ricky Stanicky, Rampart, Bleeding Steel, and Blacklight). It had an estimated budget of $110,000,000 and it only grossed $22,542,201 worldwide at the box office. British Pop Star Robbie Williams (voiced by: Robbie Williams from Gangsta Granny, De-Lovely, Take That, and The Magic Roundabout) / (played by: Jonno Davies from Kingsman: The Secret Service, In the Name of Ben Hur, and Hunters) takes you on a journey from his early childhood to being the youngest member of Take That. He gets dropped from the popular group and he seeks redemption with a solo career. As everything goes his way, he deals with all of the difficult challenges that his rising fame and current success creates for him!!!! I’m not surprised that Better Man didn’t do great in theaters because it’s a very unique concept doing a biography movie but making the main character a monkey the entire time. I personally have never been a fan of Take That or Robbie Williams music but I appreciated that it tried something original here. The script displays his childhood and origins in music. It shows an ambitious kid achieve his dreams but then he has to deal with the struggles and anxiety of being famous from it. The real Robbie Williams provides the actual voice for his character in monkey form. He’s obviously familiar with it all because it’s his life. I thought one of the better choices in Better Man. The rest of the cast includes Jonno Davies, Damon Herriman (Justified), Steve Pemberton (The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy), Alison Steadman (Pride and Prejudice), Kate Mulvany (Hunters), Frazer Hadfield (Frayed), Raechelle Banno (Home and Away), Jake Simmance (Pernille), Anthony Hayes (Animal Kingdom), Asmara Feik (Surviving Summer), Jesse Hyde (Backtrack), Liam Head (Elvis), and Chase Vollenweider (Elvis). I honestly do not enjoy that many musicals and it’s one of my least favorite sub-genres but this was better than expected. Maybe because it was somewhat weird and original for a mainstream production but it made a bigger impact. I didn’t know direction this was going when I originally checked out the trailer. I respected how personal Robbie Williams let a Better Man get and it made it a more complete journey. It’s an eye opener for anyone desperate for fame and to be popular someday. It may look amazing but there’s so much other stuff happening behind the scenes. It caused problems and confusion with the pop star’s personal experiences. It has a good mix of it all including comedy, romance, and drama. Better Man is powerful, heartbreaking, fun, and entertaining look into a singer that didn’t know what they were getting into with the music business, RECOMMENDED!!!! Let’s discuss this high definition presentation and special features from Paramount Pictures! This 2160p (2.39:1) transfer with Dolby Vision and HDR10 looks amazing in 4K. Visually, Better Man is one of the best looking movies of 2024. It has excellent choreography, stylish cinematography, quality production design, top notch fx, and a variety of locations that stand out with their sharp images. It has a few different audio options which includes English: Dolby Atmos, English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1, French: Dolby Digital 5.1, and Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks on the UHD. The audio is fantastic for Better Man but that’s a shocker considering it’s a musical. It’s reference quality to test out your home theater. All of the dialogue is crisp, the drama is elevated, and the music has a killer boost to it. It has English, English SDH, French, and Spanish subtitles. It has the 30 minute “Let Me Entertain You”. This is very detailed behind the scenes mini documentary about Robbie Williams and Better Man. It has the 15 minutes “Monkey Business”. This focuses on the very impressive visual fx from Better Man. This is a very cool inside look into that department for the interesting musical. Both extras are a nice addition to this and it proves that physical media is still worth it. It comes with a fold out high quality slipcover, a digital code, and a blu ray copy of the home video release. It’s from the Paramount Presents line. This 4K is an Amazon exclusive. It’s available there right now, CHECK IT OUT!!!!