#329: MILES AHEAD

2016

Directed by Don Cheadle

Drama, Biopic.

In Don Cheadle's directorial debut, he portrays the most important Jazz musician of all time, Miles Davis. The film is set in 1979, near the end of a 5 year retirement from music that Miles Davis took. The film also has flashbacks to the late 50s, showing Davis' relationship with Fran Taylor. Right of the bat, it seems like an odd idea to set the film heavily during a period where Miles Davis was at his least creative of his entire life.

Don Cheadle as an actor does a superb job as always. He absolutely looks the part, he has the croaky voice and the shades spot on, as well as the constant swearing. His trumpet playing looks very authentic, to the point where I'm guessing he actually learnt how to play. But Cheadle's work here as a writer and director clearly needed more work before jumping into such an ambitious project. It feels like Don Cheadle was desperate not to make a linear biopic that takes the journey from youth to death. Instead the film is set mostly in 1979, and switches back to the late 50s. But with such a large and interesting career, it is a shame that only these two distinct periods are covered. The two eras play like two very different films. The 1979 plot sees Columbia label reps stealing Miles' first demo tapes of new recordings. With the aid of a rogue Rolling Stone magazine reporter, played by Ewan McGregor, the two weld pistols and go on a long cat and mouse chase trying to retrieve the stolen demo tapes. This is an incredibly mediocre plot that sadly takes up the majority of the film. When I think of the legendary trumpeter, I don't picture him getting into car chases and running around shooting at record label reps. Ewan McGregor is also horribly miscast as a drunken, coke snorting reporter with a dodgy haircut. He completely coasts through his performance here, adding no real spark to the film, and his chemistry with Cheadle is completely flat. I think McGregor is capable of far better than this role.

Thankfully the scenes set during the late 50s are a little closer to what you would expect from a film about Miles Davis. He spends a lot of these scenes either recording in the studio, or playing live in smokey Jazz clubs. The film focuses on his romantic relationship with Fran Taylor, who appeared on the album cover of "Someday My Prince Will Come" and is considered to be his muse. The scenes where Davis is just doing what he does best, playing trumpet with his band, are far more exciting to watch than the silly faux gangster movie parts. It makes me wish that Don Cheadle had just made a more traditional Biopic and told the life story of Miles Davis, focusing on what matters most: The music. The changes in chronology feel too much like something Tarantino would do. There are very brief appearances of actors portraying John Coltrane, Gil Evans, Bill Evans and Herbie Hancock, but they are reduced to extras with barely any spoken lines.

Considering Miles Davis is one of the most important and legendary musicians to ever walk the earth, it feels like Miles Ahead has really sold him short and not focused enough on the things that mattered most. If Don Cheadle had chosen to focus more on his musical journey, involving many of the other great musicians he worked with, this could have potentially have been a great film. Instead we get half a decent Music film, and half a mediocre gangster film.When I think of Miles Davis I do not think of a gun toting coke fiend, I think of the legendary musician, and I don't know why Cheadle has tried to stray from that so vastly. After seeing Miles Ahead, I really hope that someone is inspired to make a much more deserving Miles Davis biopic. A real shame since Don Cheadle's performance really hit the nail on the head. 5/10.