Reviewed (without me) on Cinema Eclectica. I haven't heard this one yet, though I get the impression I enjoyed it more than the other guys on the show. For me the crucial problem wasn't the fictionalisation of Davis's story - in fact, I wish they'd gone further with it and created the Melvin & Howard of musician biopics. Having his master tapes stolen and going on a caper to get them back with a journalist needling at him all the way seems a valid and funny metaphor for his struggle to maintain control over his art and image. It certainly felt like it explained more about Davis than the lengthy flashbacks to his first marriage, which really didn't work as the…

Miles Ahead uses a metaphorical structure in order to tell the biography of Miles Davis, the events onscreen didn't happen, for the most part, but then when do they ever with biopics. Instead Don Cheadle, as the writer and director, presents Miles Davis as a mixture of his iconic music and his uncompromising personality.

The iconic essence of Davis is captured through the flashbacks, where the varying styles seems ripped from album covers like Birth of Cool, In A Silent Way, Kind of Blue, Sketches of Spain and Someday My Prince Will Come; there are literal shots where I thought Cheadle was presenting the album cover, lending the film a genuine sense of cool. The flashbacks are captured in a…

Dass Miles Davis seiner Zeit in vielen Phasen der Karriere weit voraus war, ist keine leere Satzhülse, um die Größe des Jazztrompeters zu untermauern, sondern beschreibt die Unfähigkeit der Zeitzeugen, einige seiner Werke auf Anhieb richtig einzuordnen, vor allem aber den stets im Wandel begreiflichen Gedankensprung von einer Strömung zur nächsten. Dem Wesen eines Musikers mit derart progressivem und vorauseilenden Charakter ist durch die episodische Abfertigung einer Lebensphase nach der anderen nicht Genüge getan.

Don Cheadle weiß um diese Aufgabenstellung und liefert einen impressionistischen Ansatz, der für ein Regiedebüt unheimlich stilsicher erscheint. Ausgerechnet die Phase Mitte bis Ende der 70er, in der seine Figur musikalisch völlig inaktiv war, kürt der Regisseur und Hauptdarsteller zum Handlungszentrum. Er dichtet darüber hinaus auch…