Saw the James Brown biopic Get On Up today and must say I was really pleased with the entire casting. Chadwick Boseman executed superb artistry in his channeling of The Godfather of Soul. The additional cast never missed a beat ;Viola Davis bringing her special brand of pathos to the role of Mr. Browns wayward mother, Lennie James (we really need to see more of this actor!) masterfully portraying a complex man who could swing from dangerous to sympathetic in the blink of an eye, the earnest Dan Aykroyd kinda playing himself ...but that wasnt a bad thing. Solid performances by Nelsan Ellis and Octavia Spencer and a too little screen time from Jill Scott as Wife number 2. A real joy for me was watching the twins Jamarion and Jordan Scott alternately playing the child James Brown. The problem with twins playing one role is that the individual doesnt get credited for, in this case, his particular portion of acting. The Scott twins are identical. But I could see a marked difference in emoting between the two boys. I didnt enter the film knowing twins were playing one part, I erroneously thought that one child was slightly older than the other. I need to watch the film again to pick which scenes I saw the differences. I was too engrossed in the the scope of the story to make mental notes at the time. Moving on, I was happy traveling back in my music listening history to those songs that made me dance, sing and shout. And the song Say It Loud, Im Black and Im Proud changed my life profoundly. It was like hiding in a dark closet for a decade and finally walking out into the light of day, head held high. All the hits songs are there. Much ( not all) of the history of Mr. Brown is there too. Bosemans strong performance is completely worth the cinema experience. Give it a go!
Posted on: Sun, 17 Aug 2014 03:53:59 +0000
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