Late Fall and Winter are generally the months for prestige movie biographies that often reap Oscar gold, but now the start of Spring appears to be a most fruitful time for such projects. After two sports “bio-pics, RACE and EDDIE THE EAGLE, burst out of their respective gates at the year’s start, the cinema scene has shifted from athletes to musicians. Country music icon Hank Williams lead the charge just a few weeks ago with I SAW THE LIGHT, then the jazz world was explored via trumpet man Chet Baker in BORN TO BE BLUE. Now we get a look at the life of one of Baker’s contemporaries (who is actually portrayed in BLUE), who’s also a legendary “horn man”, the one and only Miles Davis. And while actors Tom Hiddleston and Ethan Hawke truly immersed themselves in their roles as Hank and Chet, Don Cheadle’s quest to play Miles was truly a passion project. Cheadle directed and co-wrote this film and took to social media in an effort to finance it. After years of false starts and frustrations, the end result of his efforts is finally on display in MILES AHEAD.
As the film begins, Davis (Cheadle) is in a plush “gas-guzzler” careening through the dark rainy streets on NYC in the late 1970’s, dodging lead spewing from another car hot on its tail. The story then backtracks several hours to Davis staggering through his opulent apartment. He hasn’t released a record in several years and has almost become a hermit, calling in to jazz radio stations while partaking of a variety of “mood enhancers”. Someone pounding on the door jolts him back to reality. On his doorstep is rock journalist/hustler Dave Brill (Ewan McGregor) who insists on interviewing Davis for Rolling Stone magazine via a deal set up by Davis’s label Columbia Records. After a tense initial meeting, Davis convinces Brill to drive him to Columbia’s offices. While an exec pleads for the new album owed them in a still-binding contract, a music agent named Harper Hamilton (Michael Stuhlberg) invites Davis to a club that will be showcasing his newest jazz discovery, Junior (Keith Stanfield). Leaving the offices, Miles and Dave stop by a “supplier” then head back to the Davis townhouse where his girlfriend is throwing a massive party. Davis shows Brill the huge master tape (looking like an old film canister) that will be his long-delayed new record. As they retire to his basement recording studio, Hamilton sweeps in and steals the tape which leads to the film’s opening chase. As he tries, with Brill’s help, to retrieve his music, Davis reflects on his days as a jazz superstar in the late fifties and recalls his tumultuous relationship with his first wife, the gorgeous dancer Frances Taylor (Emayatzy Corinealdi).
Cheadle dominates every scene and exchange with a confident, charismatic and enigmatic performance as the legendary artist. Much as with the archive videos of Davis on stage, he captures that intensity and air of mystery. Cheadle’s Davis has an otherworldly quality, always unpredictable. Luckily we get to see Davis during two touchstones in his career. The fifties club entertainer is full of dangerous ambition, a man who sees his goal and strives to attain it. A real contrast to the be-bop survivor who wanders about in a stupor until the loss of his work re-ignites a spark. McGregor makes an excellent verbal sparring partner, in awe of his musical hero, but frustrated by his lack of focus. Brill wants that interview, not only for himself, but to remind the world of Davis. Stuhlbarg is a marvelous sleazy villain, smiling and complimenting Davis to his face while looking for the chance to stab him in the back, anything to profit himself and his client. Corinealdi is captivating as the etherial beauty that dances in and out of Davis’s dreams. Her sultry charms are not enough to destroy the demons that possess her betrothed.
The film captures the two eras expertly from the hazy golden nightclubs of the fifties to the glittering disco kitsch of the seventies. Cheadle is a promising director, getting great performances while establishing the perfect mood for every sequence, though the film feels a bit constricted by the script he and his writers have constructed. Much as with Spielberg’s LINCOLN, this film focuses in on one part of Davis’s remarkable life, rather than seeing him grow up, discover the trumpet, and so forth. This keeps the subject at a distance, often making Miles a surly, growling, scowling riddle. It doesn’t help that the story spends far too much time on the missing music, becoming a zany period “caper” pastiche. This is film time that may have been better since watching Miles create. Still, Cheadle’s devotion and enthusiasm shows in every frame. Despite its flaws and disjointed structure MILES AHEAD is a fervent fan letter of a film celebrating a music legend.
3 Out of 5
