Miles Ahead

For his directorial debut Don Cheadle sets himself the ambitious task of presenting a rather different take on the life of jazz legend Miles Davis.

It is the late '70s and Miles Davis (Cheadle) has fallen to his own success. Now a musical recluse with a drug habit and a failed marriage, Davis finds himself bothered by a Rolling Stone reporter (Ewen McGregor) in search of a story. As Davis' recalls his past, the present threatens to embroil them in drugs, violence, and crime.

Miles Ahead is a strange meshing of genres. Slapping together the biopic, with what is extensively a nod to the blaxploitation films of the '70s. It is a quirky and somewhat enjoyable combination, but the films really works its best when it is in the more traditional realm of biography. The streets of 1979 New York lurch towards parody, even if it does show the later life of Davis. Instead his past looms larger, with Cheadle using his music as a gateway back in time. Here it links the jazz, the man and history in an almost effortless way. A few riffs gives gives the audience more insight into Miles and his ex-wife Frances' (Emayatzy Corinealdi ) relationship than the framing story ever does. Although the framing device is entertaining in its own right, it does make you wonder what could have been achieved with a more straightforward approach.

It seems appropriate that music is the high point for the film. Granting a comprehensive retrospective of Davis' work Miles Ahead is littered with jazz classics, using it to its advantage. Editing to the rhythm, the film finds a natural flow and expressiveness, complimenting the soundtrack. When sound and vision are in harmony, Miles Ahead is a transcendent experience.

Cheadle as the softly spoken jazz great dominates here with screen presence. He carries himself with swagger, but allows the regret and the self doubt to peek through. By comparison McGregor is almost cartoonish, as the Rolling Stone reporter. The resulting pairing often plays like a buddy cop comedy, but in its quiet moments allows for some genuine reflection on life and music.

Miles Ahead certainly obeys Davis' tenant of 'come with some attitude'. The result is quirky, different and entertaining. An ambitious effort that fails to fully capture the life of the man, but it is hard to imagine what, beyond his music, could.

Miles Ahead screens at UWA's Somerville Auditorium until Sunday, March 13, and ECU's Joondalup Pines from Tuesday, March 15, to Sunday, March 20, as part of the Perth International Arts Festival's Lotterywest Festival Films season.

Originally published in X-Press Magazine