Despite being someone who tends to like "warts-and-all" biopics about famous people, I must say that Get On Up bothered me a little. I felt upset by how it seemed to besmirch the dead musician's legacy a bit with unflattering depictions of how he treated his wife DeeDee and his mother.

Still, the film is quite entertaining, but I felt like something's missing from it. It could've used a little more psychological depth, maybe, or even a strong antagonist. I'm not sure. The breaking of the fourth wall in the film is somewhat bold. The late Mr. Boseman seems to do a good job with what he had to work with. Actually, some of his speeches to the camera leave me wondering why they even included them.

My biggest gripe with the film is its bloated length. At over 2 hours, it seemed to cheat me a bit. Not taking issue with the nonlinear form, but the way things happen in it feels almost random. Some foreshadowing and payoff could've gone a long way in making the story feel more unified, for example.

I'll concede this: Being a film about the man whose music supplied the rise of hip-hop music, Get On Up isn't afraid to break rules. I just feel it could've benefited from a bit of adherence to them at the same time.

I believe IMDb's average rating for this is 6-something; since it's a disappointing film about the Godfather of Soul, I gave it a generous 5 out of 10.