matt11791 Just want to start by saying that this really is a terrific picture. Well shot, well made, tells the Brown story to a T all the greatest hits and lowest points of his life. This film does feature a fatal flaw however. It is edited in the poorest of fashion. The way it jumps all about from year to year blows throw the point of being a distraction to being something that both detracts from and ruins an otherwise terrific movie. Classic case of someone being too clever for their own good. "Ray" and "Walk the Line" tell (for the most part) an in order, hit by hit tale of their subjects careers, with some flashback sequences. So this movie trying to do something different makes sense in that they are trying to separate themselves from "normal" music biopics. In doing so, they really failed everyone they were working with and I can't believe no one stepped in to make a more coherent movie of this great material and subject matter.If they ever come along with a "chronological" cut of this movie, I will happily give it 9 stars, and stop my day to check it out. As is, 5 and a hard but fair 5 for some of the worst editing of what could have been great movie that we will ever see.

M AR Before watching this I had no idea who James Brown was. I heard the name before but could not identify which songs were his (Although I have heard a lot of his songs on commercials and sampled in newer songs).This man was crazy as hell. I enjoyed the movie.James Brown seemed like a jerk.Its cool mick jagger was in the movie and he produced it.Good acting. Good music.

Turfseer "Get on Up," a biopic about "James Brown," also known as "The Godfather of Soul," covers many of the bases of the soul singer's life but ultimately must be categorized as "hagiography," given its overall sanitized depiction. The narrative begins with a revealing low point toward the end of Brown's life: he terrorizes participants at an insurance seminar by firing a shotgun at the ceiling of his own conference center, after discovering someone has used his private bathroom. Director Tate Taylor then begins jumping around in non- chronological order after that to depict events in Brown's life. As a result, we never get a sense of Brown's decline and (dare I say it?), fall into mediocrity. Taylor on the other hand is content to put Brown up on a pedestal, concluding that he was a seminal figure in American musical history. Despite its shortcomings, there's a lot to like about "Get on Up." First and foremost there's Chadwick Boseman's excellent performance. While he lip syncs the original recordings, Boseman manages to capture Brown's mannerisms, including his spectacular dance moves along with conveying the soul singer's controlling nature. The scenes of Brown's childhood and adolescence explain exactly why he became the "not so nice guy" of his adulthood. Abandoned by his mother and abused by a cruel father, Brown found that he had to fend for himself. The difficulties of growing up Black in the pre-Civil Rights era deep South in 30s and 40s is ably conveyed by Taylor who shows Brown participating in a boxing match as a child for the amusement of well-to-do racist Southerners. Brown finds little supervision from his Aunt who is involved in running the local Bordello. In a powerful scene, young Brown steals a pair of shoes from a lynching victim. Finally, after stealing a suit, Brown receives a harsh and unjust prison sentence of 5 to 13 years but miraculously is rescued by Bobbie Byrd, whose church-going family sponsors him as a repentant border in their home. Despite their generosity, Brown can't keep his hands off one of Byrd's sisters, who he has sex with in one of the upstairs bedrooms.The narrative remains gripping as we learn how Brown's career took off. First there were gigs with "The Famous Flames," Byrd's gospel group where Brown developed his original style. We get to see a young Little Richard fabulously played by a flamboyant Brandon Mychal Smith performing a song before the Flames go on in a club. Later the group is signed by King Records and Brown teams up with agent Ben Bart (nicely played by Dan Aykroyd.) Bart is adroit in business and shows Brown the ropes. We see how expendable the rest of the Flames are when the record company makes it clear that they're only side men to Brown—the main act. As a result they all quit and Brown forms a new band with new players.Somewhere in the second half of the film, the films' scenarists have a hard time acknowledging the depth of James Brown's shortcomings. Perhaps the best scene is when Brown arrogantly and cruelly curses out his supporting players who all resign in protest. The film leaves out how earlier Brown encouraged some of his supporting players in their careers—but then tried to sabotage them by calling DJ's, telling them not to play their music, after some of them displayed some initial success.Politically Brown supported Richard Nixon and spoke fondly of Strom Thurmond—these facts are left out of the film as not to tarnish the Brown legacy. But perhaps the most disingenuous aspect of the narrative is that Brown's drug usage and instances of domestic violence are downplayed. Dressing up as Santa and giving money to children at Christmas time might have endeared some members of the public to Brown but those who knew the entire back story could not have admired such a controlling and mean spirited individual.My theory is that Brown became popular not because of his songs but due to his talent as a performer. On the other hand, Chuck Berry's rock n' roll songs (which also came from standard blues) were far more clever and catchy than most of the stuff from Brown's R&B catalog. Brown did have an excellent voice but relied on repetition which was good for showcasing his excellent dance moves but few of his songs--except for a few hits such as "I Got You (I feel Good), were all that memorable. Television in the 60s put James Brown on the map, but as he grew older, the next generation lost interest in him. No longer the center of attention, Brown turned to drugs and tarnished his legacy through his cruel and boorish behavior, minimized here in this screenplay.I would still recommend seeing this rather disjointed biopic. The main facts of James Brown's life are depicted in a straightforward manner and there are moments here and there, that are quite powerful. Nonetheless the filmmakers tendency to put James Brown on a pedestal makes him out to be far more important in popular music history than he actually was.

Python Hyena Get On Up (2014): Dir: Tate Taylor / Cast: Chadwick Boseman, Nelsan Ellis, Dan Aykroyd, Viola Davis, Craig Robinson: Music drama about extending one's abilities through hardship. James Brown was a musical icon symbolizing the best of soul. He is played to near perfection by Chadwick Boseman who, unlike John Lloyd Young in Jersey Boys, actually embodies the body, personality and energetic singing talent of James Brown. The screenplays starts with promise but falters with its back and forth disjointed presentation of flashbacks. We witness his harsh upbringing with neglect from both parents. We witness his arrest after breaking into a car and stealing a suit. It is here that he meets Nelsan Ellis who is performing in jail and is caught in the middle of a fight. He and Brown hit it off and together they embark on a music career. Dan Aykroyd plays Ben Bart who will become his manager and backer. One may remember the real James Brown performing in Aykroyd's masterpiece The Blues Brothers, which may indicate his interest in this project. Viola Davis plays Brown's mother who left when he was young and reappears back stage but to an unwelcome son who remembers the neglect. Craig Robinson plays one of the many band mates who questions Brown's controlling attitude thus causing tension. The film highlights classic performances where Boseman brings forth the screeching voice that has cemented the image of soul. Directed by Tate Taylor who previously made The Help. The screenplay cannot do justice to every key moment in the life of this entertainer but it does get on up with what made him great. Score: 8 / 10