Miles Ahead
Trumpet project…
The cradle-to-the-grave biopic has become an increasingly tired Hollywood staple. So it’s somewhat refreshing to see Don Cheadle make his directorial debut with what might be called an anti-bio – one that gives the muchdeserved big-screen treatment to jazz legend Miles Davis. It’s tempting to think this musical innovator would approve of the offbeat, semifictional approach taken in this account of a few days in his ‘lost’ years – the mid-’70s period when he disappeared from public view.
Eschewing the usual mentors-and-montages structure, the film finds Cheadle’s Davis in a creative funk, although there are frequent, feverish flashbacks to his earlier days, as he laments his time with first wife Frances Taylor (Emayatzy Corinealdi). Into his world comes Ewan McGregor’s Dave Braden – a shaggy-haired reporter who claims to be working on a ‘comeback’ story for Rolling Stone but, like Michael Stuhlbarg’s oily producer, wants to get his hands on secret ‘session’ tapes stashed in Davis’ apartment.
With his colossal drug habit, Davis is hardly the most likeable protagonist – and purists will doubtless balk at this revisionist history, which skips his rise to fame in favour of coke deals, shoot-outs and car chases.
Still, a frizzy-afro’d Cheadle works hard to summon Davis’ spirit, even if the script (by Cheadle and Steven Baigelman, who earned a story credit on James Brown biopic Get On Up) never quite captures the artist’s multi-faceted achievements in the way Todd Haynes managed with Bob Dylan bio I’m Not There. The narrative feels too scattershot to be successful, although slick editing gives the film some transcendent moments. Cheadle, as you might expect, roars on screen. And off it? He has a vision – and he pursues it relentlessly. THE VERDICT Meandering like a jazz riff, Miles Ahead is a curio that doesn’t quite come off. But credit Cheadle, both in front and behind camera, for refusing to play the easy notes. › Certificate 15 Director Don Cheadle Starring Don Cheadle, Ewan McGregor, Emayatzy Corinealdi, Michael Stuhlbarg Screenplay Steven Baigelman, Don Cheadle Distributor Icon Running time 100 mins