Mr. Dynamite: The Rise of James Brown

This is a documentary of Soul Brother No 1 by prolific filmmaker Alex Gibney. It follows the soul legend from his difficult childhood in the south to his mustache/jumpsuit decline and its influence in the rise of 80's hip hop. I feared this would be a scrubbed down version of his life. The first half does touch upon his wild side but mostly it attributes it to the world in which he survives. It seems like an easy treatment until the second half painting a fuller picture. While it does not shy away from the violence against women, it doesn't dwell on it either. It also paints him as a man alone unable to trust anyone. He is ruthless with his dealings with money. Essentially, he had no friends, just employees. He grew up in a world of violence and is heavily influenced by it. Although it tells the story, it doesn't really show it. It doesn't enough of his own words and it doesn't hit him as hard as I want. Of course, this has his amazing music. It tackles his politics with which I'm less familiar. I know about Black and Proud but I didn't know about backing Nixon. That's an intriguing part of his bio. This is a well-rounded TV doc of this American music legend.