Diractors is an ongoing series in which Hassle writer Jack Draper examines films, new and old, whose directors are better known for their work in front of the camera.
Biopics are hard, and I don’t envy anyone for reaching with open arms to try to recreate someone’s life. The life of a musician is something that’s almost expected to be whittled down and trite, at this point in the critical thought of biopics. Nothing is learned about the incredibly famous person when taking on their life, making one’s life seem like a handful of moments instead of a complete life. Yet these movies are insanely popular, since the person (or at least their music) is famous for multiple generations, which then becomes the very low bar to clear. In the 2010s (which I’m most familiar with) there are the most disposable and vapid films, forgotten by time for worse and remembered by the public to reflect what the public values. With Miles Ahead, there’s great aspirations but not a great movie as a result- and that’s okay.
This is the story of the many versions of Miles Davis, yet unlike something like I’m Not There, they’re all embodied by Don Cheadle. It focuses on the jazz legend’s time with journalist Dave Braden (Ewan McGregor) as they get into trouble with scoring drugs as well as his music back in the late ’70s while he was living as a recluse. This relationship takes a bit to feel like it’s natural enough to get some tension going. It does have its moments of intrigue when Braden does get some introspection out of Davis, as when Cheadle’s Miles cheekily says to Dave in that whispered rasp, “I was born, I moved to New York, met some cats, made some music, did some dope, made some more music, then you showed up at my house.” It’s here where Cheadle the actor gets to shine the most, and then it’s Cheadle the director who excels in the past. In the ’60sm when he meets Frances Taylor (Emayatzy Corinealdi) and falls in love, he is just confused on how to be a good husband. He is an abuser and a cheater, but it’s only from Miles’ own self destruction that she can’t be with him when she leaves.
It is rather nice to see this version of Miles’ life, as what we could’ve gotten is so much more standardized. Yet Cheadle’s’ debut does otherwise seem unremarkable. It reminds me a bit of something like the underseen Love and Mercy, which focuses on the career and downfall of Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys. Coming out around the same time even, both movies don’t really reach for much outside of what that can handle. Even though being underrated in the big picture of music biopics is a feat in onto itself, as Miles Ahead and Love and Mercy have something new to say about an incredibly famous person. Miles never goes out of itself way to sanitize its musical legend or make a movie that feels mundane or someone who is anything but. Cheadle having all this in mind for this “interpretation” rather than an adaptation.
Like any biopic, inspired or not, it is the Don Cheadle show which I’m happily attending. At one point underrated and now considered a great, Cheadle has a lot of misses in his filmography, even though he himself is never lackluster. How Miles Ahead is remembered for those that saw it, or even didn’t, is the Don Cheadle passion project, although it didn’t remain that way. Screenwriter Chris Wilkenson brought up the idea to Cheadle when auditioning for Ali, Vince Wilburn Jr (Davis’s nephew) then suggested Cheadle again a few years later when his late uncle was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Once the Davis estate approved the concept for the two timelines, it was the framework that really inspires Cheadle into not just starring in the movie but also directing. But it seems like the world moved on from the desire for a Miles Davis biopic as financing the movie was a struggle. Even with the intentional casting of McGregor to appeal overseas, the movie was at standstill even with the music biopics being at an all-time popularity in the 2010s. Cheadle said, “We crowdfunded via indiegogo, deferred payment, I put money in myself. Kevin Hart, Pras, my producer’s cousin, my other producer’s friend put money in. It was just like that kind of a situation.” Its nice to see, however, one of these films about a legendary musician to come from humble beginnings, nothing obnoxious for the sake of making a movie. People just want to hear music from artists they know and have heard a million times in a movie theater, but we should also expect more from our biopics.
Miles Ahead
2016
dir. Don Cheadle
96 min.
