Get On Up
Chadwick Boseman gives a thoroughly convincing performance as the Godfather of Soul, James Brown. That’s the main takeaway from this scattershot biopic, which might be subtitled “Snapshots from the life of James Brown.” Some of those snapshots are interesting enough, although they are told in a needlessly nonlinear style…but they don’t provide a three-dimensional portrait of the famously hard-working entertainer. As I left the theater, I couldn’t help asking myself questions the film hadn’t bothered to answer. He was born into poverty in Georgia. His loving mother left when he was a child, and when his violent father was drafted he was parked with the proprietress of the local whorehouse. He learned to be self-reliant early on and found it difficult to trust anyone, on…
