"unabashed, messy and vibrant. Occasional notes of the film are undoubtedly out of tune but it’s a film created with passion and acted with sincere devotion"

The music industry is full of figures who have created some of the best music that we’ll ever hear, yet the true characters behind that work can sometimes be troubling. As their personal lives reach public view, we’re often left with the difficult choice of whether to mentally separate the art from the person behind it.

It’s a decision that the biopic genre itself has embraced and one that Miles Ahead gives us, leaving the audience to make their choice after viewing. Yet the biopic can often be rose-tinted, or the reverse in a so-called ‘character assassination’, and when details of personal lives are so subjective to those involved, we’re never sure how much of the recreation that we’re getting on film is factual.

Miles Ahead deals with it competently. Well aware that on paper Miles Davis’ personal life was frequently a mess of drugs, violence and spousal abuse, this film doesn’t contradict those facts.

Furthermore, actor Don Cheadle took on this film as his directorial debut, and has been outspoken about his aversion to the film being termed as a biopic. His defensiveness is not without evidence - although the film bounces between the past and present, it’s a tightly compressed view of both factual and fictional events of a lengthy, dramatic life.

It largely focuses on Davis (Cheadle) during his break from music in the 1970s, where he lives a reclusive life in a disheveled apartment. It’s debatable how much of the rest of the story is factually accurate, but one day he finds himself doorstepped by a wily Rolling Stone reporter called Dave Braden (Ewan McGregor).

As Braden seeks a story, and Davis seeks to stop the impatient Columbia Records forcing him into a so-called comeback, we start to see flashes of the past which act as clues for what might have driven him to his current state.

Employing a host of artistic techniques, Cheadle tries to convey Davis’ tormented character - at war with the studio, the system, the expectant fans, and those around him. It is at its most effective when it’s at its most literal, at one point placing the musician and his band in a boxing ring as the film reaches the pinnacle of the action.

Despite this, a well-meaning end credits gimmick goes too far, straying into the ridiculous and Miles Ahead intersperses almost comedic action with genuinely painful scenes, making it a very uneven, albeit lively, watch.

Regardless of all its machismo, the highlight performance lies with Emayatzy Corinealdi, a late addition to the cast who plays the musician’s put-upon second wife Francis Taylor. She’s passionate, strong, and more than a match for her tornado of a husband. A few days later, it’s her performance that stays strongest in the memory despite the more showy contenders.

Miles Ahead is unabashed, messy and vibrant. Occasional notes of the film are undoubtedly out of tune but it’s a film created with passion and acted with sincere devotion. To those Miles Davis fans, if you didn’t know the personal story of your idol before then it’s a tough introduction to a few select and unsavoury facts. However, in the end, it’s that separation between art and its creator that you can ultimately choose to have.