Miles Ahead review: Don Cheadle intricately brings his story of Miles Davis to Berlinale.
Miles Ahead review by Paul Heath at the Berlin Film Festival, 2016. It seems like forever that Don Cheadle has had his Miles Davis biopic – his self-professed passion project – in the making, and following successful bows at the New York Film Festival last year, it finally makes its international debut in Berlin.
Cheadle co-writes, produces, directs and stars as Davis in Miles Ahead, a film that focusses on two specific days in the life of the troubled jazz musician. We find Davis washed up in 1970s New York City, many years since he last released any music. Already considered a legend, Davis now spends his days snorting cocaine, smoking cigarettes or drinking from a glass of hard liquor. Plotting a big comeback, Davis’s reflections and sudden recollections of a life gone by are suddenly interrupted by young ‘Rolling Stone’ reporter Dave Brill (Ewan McGregor), who wants to write a piece on the fallen musician. With record executives intent on getting hold of a secret recording, both Davis and new companion Brill suddenly find themselves in a cross-city car chase, ducking from a hail of bullets.
There are two things to take away from Don Cheadle’s Miles Davis biopic. The first is the exceptional and all consuming input, immense immersion and performance output from Cheadle himself. He is Miles Davis; from the mannerisms to the note-perfect trumpet playing (we’re unsure if he’s playing or miming – it doesn’t matter either way) and the constant improvisations that have gone into bringing the late jazz legend to life. The second stand-out from Miles Ahead is the great performances from Cheadle’s supporting cast in Emayatzy Corinealdi as Davis’s dancer wife, and particularly Ewan McGregor as the sleazy, shift ‘journalist’ Brill. The role is McGregor’s best for many years, for as long as we can remember actually; the Scottish actor equally as convincing as Cheadle.
Cheadle’s storytelling is on the button, though he takes a more unconventional approach to the narrative. The clever editing transitioning between past and present is a little off-putting and perhaps unnecessary in places, but overall he’s delivered a well-paced, engrossing film that certainly won’t disappoint fans of the musician despite the story very much focussing on his darker days.
What does come through in the final movie is Cheadle’s passion for his subject and the music that he created. It’s a moody, jazz-soaked, intricate piece that is also a dazzling debut from a new director as well as a very experienced and talented actor.
Miles Ahead review at the Berlin Film Festival, 2016.
Miles Ahead will be released in the US on April 1st, 2016, and in the UK on April 22nd, 2016.
