First Trailer for GET ON UP

I don't know what affinity Chadwick Boseman has for playing real-life characters, but if his latest turn as James Brown is anything close to what he delivered in his breakout role last year as Jackie Robinson then we could be in for something pretty special. Get On Up is director Tate Taylor's follow-up to his Oscar nominated debut The Help and if the trailer indicates anything it is how epic this film might be. It is hard to gauge how much story to include in films like this as even the most recent examples of these music biopics such as Ray and Walk the Line attempted to cover as much ground as possible and it seems that this will try and do the same, but with plenty of funk to spare. I love films like this as I love music as much as I love movies in general and to see any legend such as Brown's life brought to the screen and realized as gloriously as this trailer hints it has been, has to be a win in some regard no matter how the complete film actually turns out. What is truly exciting about the trailer though, besides the radically different persona Boseman seems to have taken on and embodied, is the supporting cast Taylor has assembled and the layers at which they hint at within the bigger scope of these typical fame stories. The bad part being these kinds of films typically follow the same pattern as in we get the rise, the unavoidable fall and the redeeming conclusion that gives way to a satisfactory life before the unavoidable death. Brown's actual life is so interesting though, coming from South Carolina in extreme poverty to being crowned with the title of "The Godfather of Soul" and essentially revolutionizing certain musical stylings and influencing countless performers that it would almost be impossible to make a non-interesting film. Get On Up also stars Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, Nelsan Ellis, Lennie James, Tika Sumpter, Jill Scott, Dan Aykroyd and opens August 1st.



Synopsis: In his follow-up to the four-time Academy Award®-nominated blockbuster The Help, Tate Taylor directs 42’s Chadwick Boseman as James Brown in Get on Up. Based on the incredible life story of the Godfather of Soul, the film will give a fearless look inside the music, moves and moods of Brown, taking audiences on the journey from his impoverished childhood to his evolution into one of the most influential figures of the 20th century. Boseman is joined in the drama by Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, Nelsan Ellis, Lennie James, Tika Sumpter, Jill Scott and Dan Aykroyd.