FirstWitch
A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.
Geraldine
The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.
commander_zero
Making a jazz film is hard: the most sincere efforts, such as Clint Eastwood's Bird and Bertrand Tavernier's Round Midnight, tend to recast the music as a synonym for tragedy and victimhood, the exact opposite truth of an art that was crafted to constantly countermand and undermine tragedy and victimhood. Miles Ahead has been criticized for its crazy sub-plot, that culminates in fistfights and gunplay at a boxing match, where Miles Davis reclaims a Macguffin-like master tape that Columbia Records will evidently do anything to get. Of course, this is completely fiction, but it is worth bearing in mind that co-star Ewan MacGregor has called the film "less a Miles biopic than an attempt to cast Miles in a caper flick that he might like to have been part of." In this light, one might regard such excesses a good way of expanding on the "badass" image, that Miles so liked to project. Historically flawed as it might be, the film makes clear that badassness was in fact a useful survival tactic for Davis, in a music industry full of unctuous guys in suits calling him "Mr. Davis," stressing how honoured they were to meet him, and then exploiting him at every turn. The film bounces around chronologically from the late 1950s to the 1980s. The constant flashbacks are somewhat off-putting, but sometimes they do a very good job. At their centre is Davis' relationship with dancer Frances Taylor; years after she has walked out on him – or rather, run out, fearing for her life – Miles is still obsessed with her. There is a scene where, over the phone, he convinces her to leave the London production of West Side Story to be with him. Just as we start to feel sorry for the lovelorn Miles, Cheadle cuts to the drug-fuelled orgy with two young fans that Davis has interrupted in order to take Taylor's call. Another scene takes us back to the 1959 Sketches of Spain sessions; for a jazz fan, it is a delicious pleasure to see and hear these being recreated, although Cheadle gives the impression that arranger Gil Evans was a sort of conductor for the session who was there to follow Davis' instructions. Early in the film, Davis stops an interviewer from calling his music "jazz." What he plays, Davis insists, is social music. In the midst of current recastings and redefinitions of what "jazz" might be, this is a more important message than one expects to hear in a Hollywood biopic. In reading the many criticisms of Cheadle's film, it might be useful to remember that Davis' music from the '70s and '80s was also fiercely criticized at the time it was made, but as the years go by, and we rethink what the artist was doing, it seems increasingly to be right on. The way this film is regarded might also very well change for the better in the years to come.
Zuzana
There are just so many of these films. I don't know what's the point anymore.Musicians come in all sorts, poor, rich, instantly successful, eventually successful, famous, unknown, etc. They suffer from a variety of problems - writer's block, love, heartbreak, etc.But it seems that every film about a musician is reduced to a period where he's addicted to drugs and can barely work as a musician. You have an entire career of an artist, and you want to pick this moment to make a film about?The problem is that everyone is doing this, so every film about music, from bands to solo artist to record executives (HBO's Vinyl) are about drugs. Music is just the background.The story is "let's score some drugs," "let's do some drugs" and finally "let's retrieve some tape." There are some period references, boxing, police brutality, racial tensions, but they were added in later as spices rather than essential elements of the plot.Don Cheadle's acting was great. I don't know if his direction is great because the final product isn't. Cheadle is the lead actor, the director, has writing credits and is the producer - the film is not good, so it's gotta be his fault. I think he should've had less control on the picture. The only worse thing than having an army of yes men is having yourself in every position, high-fiving yourself for every decision.The choice to pick this part of Davis' life was flawed to begin with. This is not a film about a musician that does drugs, this is about a junkie who also plays music sometimes.
paolodebord
I think that most of the people who had watch this movie doesn't really get that this is not a biography of Miles Davis, the intention it was not to make a documentary but a credible story about the years of Miles retirement; that's what a movie is meant to be, enjoy.The director doesn't want to show us the usual Davis but a more grotesque figure that flows through the memories of his life between success, love and regret on a constant search of himself.It's a good movie with some very interesting directorial choices, he has no pretensions to show us what really happen, just leaves us wondering what it could be.That's my review, you don't like it? "So What?"
siderite
The movie is very well played and well directed by Don Cheadle as it presents a heart broken Miles Davis getting back to music after five years of wallowing in his own grief. It is not about the early days, it is not about jazz, it is about the person, as seen from the perspective of a douchy Rolling Stones reporter who is hungry enough to follow and get under Miles' skin.I liked the film composition wise. It felt trippy and jazzy and true to the idea of doing it differently. I didn't enjoy the film too much, though. It may have to do with me not liking jazz, or actually not feeling any empathy for any of the characters.Bottom line: more The End of the Tour than Whiplash, it wasn't my kind of film, but I really liked the way is was constructed. Cheadle made it clear that he is a talented director, as well as actor, and McGregor's contribution really sweetened the deal. You learn more about the cutthroat music industry in the late 70's than about music, though.
