Peter Travers on Get on Up: Chadwick Boseman is a Powerhouse

Peter Traversmay not be dancing in his seatfor Get on Up, the new James Brownbiopic he highlights this week on At the Movies, but hes certainly offering a standing ovation for the films star, Chadwick Boseman: Hes just 100-percent great, a powerhouse, Travers lauds.

With Mick Jaggeron board as producer, Get on Up was able to secure the rights to Browns music, and as with Jamie Foxx in Ray, the singing Boseman did on set was eventuallyreplaced by the Godfather of Souls actual vocal tracks. But as Travers learned during a recent interview with Boseman, the actor is no slouch, as youll see in his short, but soulful rendition of Donny Hathaways I Love You More Than Youll Ever Know.

While Bosemans performance shines, the movie itself coddles Browns legacy a bit too much (which was perhapsnecessary to please his family in order to secure the music rights, Travers suggests). Get on Up touches on Browns impoverished upbringing, early run-ins with the law and his troubling past with drugs and spousal abuse, but as Travers says, We see hints of it, but we dont really see James Brown down, down, down.

But we do see plenty of the Hardest Working Man in Show Business on stage pompadours, splits and all and director Tate Taylor (The Help) captures the brilliance and immediacy of those famous performances. I feel that Im watching him, because Chad Boseman up on that stage comes alive, Travers raves. Hes got the funk, hes got the spirit, hes alive and he makes James Brown alive for those scenes that work.