When he was on stage in one scene, there was Yvon on background looking at him and there was Didi in the audience and Didi became his wife. But we were never shown if James actually was having sex with both women?
Anybody know? Did you read his autobio?
This was one of many unanswered questions in the film. One of my biggest issues was that this biopic felt less like the story of JB's life and more like stories from his life. People appeared and disappeared with little insight into the significance of their roles in JB's life.
I was curious about her, so I researched Yvonne after viewing the film and learned that she actually had a daughter by JB. When, where, and for how long their relationship lasted was completely ignored in the film, so I have no idea if they were together before, during, or after DeeDee.
Yvonne had one line in the film, so why even include her? We learned nothing about her beyond her name and job. I found this undeveloped inclusion confusing considering the glaring exclusion of major players in JB's life and career like Charles Bobbit, Fred Wesley, Lyn Collins, and his third wife Adrienne Rodriguez.
This was one of many unanswered questions in the film. One of my biggest issues was that this biopic felt less like the story of JB's life and more like stories from his life. People appeared and disappeared with little insight into the significance of their roles in JB's life.
I was curious about her, so I researched Yvonne after viewing the film and learned that she actually had a daughter by JB. When, where, and for how long their relationship lasted was completely ignored in the film, so I have no idea if they were together before, during, or after DeeDee.
Yvonne had one line in the film, so why even include her? We learned nothing about her beyond her name and job. I found this undeveloped inclusion confusing considering the glaring exclusion of major players in JB's life and career like Charles Bobbit, Fred Wesley, Lyn Collins, and his third wife Adrienne Rodriguez.
Exactly, it seems like the Life of James Brown from Bobby Byrd's perspective. I still enjoyed though. Very good movie!
shareExactly, it seems like the Life of James Brown from Bobby Byrd's perspective. I still enjoyed though. Very good movie!
exclusion of major players in JB's life and career like Charles Bobbit, Fred Wesley, Lyn Collins, and his third wife Adrienne Rodriguez
Whoa! Tammy Terrell? What was the link between those two?
shareNot sure Adrienne Rodriguez was married to James in 1993, when the life story ended, and that alone would have been a movie. Unfortunately, biopics can't include EVERYBODY in a person's life. Tammi Terrell was also left out. If it was a complete biopic w/ everybody, we'd still be sitting the theater watching the movie.
I completely agree about Yvonne Fair. She was staring at him, and he was looking at her and his soon to be wife, and that was it. I assumed that there was more to her story that had been edited out, but it was still sloppy to even include her. The performances were incredible, but they left many things unexplored and unanswered.
share[quoteAdrienne was with James from 1981 to 1994. However, you did not learn that from this jumbled mess of a 2-hour-plus film.
I am not someone who does not understand filmmaking or storytelling. I do not expect to see "EVERYBODY" in a person's life in a film. That is ridiculous. However, people who are either pivotal to the professional or personal development of a person's life should be considered.
You are correct. They did not include Tammi Terrell. I did not know anything about her involvement with James until you mentioned her, so I just looked it up. While it is fascinating, and might have been an interesting inclusion for sensationalism, it was not pivotal or significant in James' life. So it did not need to be included. The film established that he was physically abusive in his romantic relationships. I did not need to see him beating a 17-year-old Tammi. However, the filmmakers made a conscious effort to introduce us to Yvonne Fair but did NOTHING to explain the significance of her existence; hence, the OP's need to come here to ask about her.
So, to circle back to my original point, certain PIVOTAL people should be included in a biopic. I am not even saying that Yvonne was pivotal. I just know she was included but not developed, which caused me to research her and learn that she had a child by James. Truth to tell, I don't think her inclusion was necessary either.
Without getting into too much detail, the people I listed were pivotal professionally and/or personally. For example, we briefly see James using drugs. However, he had become a serious hard drug user and many believe that he began using them with Adrienne Rodriguez. He went from a strict no drug or drinking policy to engaging heavily in both. Instead of wasting time showing an out-of-his-head madman brandishing a gun in a car dealership and leading the police on a car chase that may or may not have happened, why not at least explore when, where or how this change occurred. Their abusive relationship would not have been a movie alone in the hands of the right filmmaker. However, the mere existence of it during the period the film covers could have been included for context.
One does not have to include every aspect of a person's life to make a compelling film that is coherent and has a sound narrative. An effective screenwriter can write a screenplay for a film about a life as fascinating and complex as James Brown's without having it be a marathon. It has been done before. Off the top of my head Ray, and Walk the Line do far more effective jobs at doing this, and while X, was long, it did a fantastic job at telling Malcolm X's story without including everybody in his life. For me, Get On Up fell flat at accomplishing this very basic filmmaking task. [/quote]
There's only so much you can do! I'm sure there's a lot that was left on the cutting room floor. This for me was about one thing and that was getting Chadwick out there and to that end the film did just that.
Eating my prunes and watching that ass!
As I recall, she died from cosmetic surgery. you know, it may have had something to do with her estate. Everybody who was mentioned in the movie had to sign a release -- I believe that's how it goes. I remember with the Tina Turner movie, they had to get (pay) Ike to sign a release.
shareThis is one of the many flaws in the movie, I would like to think that a lot was cut do to making the film a descent screen time. The time with his wife Adrienne Rodriguez was his turbulent years. That was the time of his most heavy drug use and domestic violence was becoming known to the public. I assume his estate would allow that to show.
God has a hard on for marines because we kill everything we see. He plays his game, we play ours.
Great post.
I think with biopics, film makers have two major challenges to overcome. The biggest is, how to summarize a person's life in 2 hours. The second challenge is keeping the support of the family of the film's subject.
On the second point, often times with biopics, the family of the film's subject doesn't want certain events from a person's life to be depicted on the big screen. Film makers usually don't want to make biopics without the support of friends and family so they are forced to walk a fine line. If the family opposes the film, it could lead to bad publicity and the film getting canned. For examples, look at the way the TV networks responded to the negative publicity surrounding the Ronald Reagan and Kennedy family miniseries. Another example could be Oliver Stone quitting as director of the MLK biopic due to objections from King's family to his wanting to cover King's infidelity.
Despite some glaring omissions, I still think 'Get On Up' was a great film and the film makers told a great story.