Miles Ahead

Every now and again, an actor decides to step behind the camera. Sometimes they pursue that as a career while other only make the one film as a director. Regardless of what follows for those first-time directors, it's still interesting to see what they can offer to their audiences.

So how did Don Cheadle fare with Miles Ahead? Taking on the many duties of the film (including director, star, producer and co-writer), Cheadle clearly has a lot on his plate. But how well does he balance these many tasks?

Though Miles Ahead focuses on musician Miles Davis, its plot is of a purely fabricated variety. (Not that there's anything strictly wrong with that.) But at least the plot provides some thrills throughout. (Emphasis on "some".)

That said, it appears all the work Cheadle contributed to Miles Ahead proved too much for him. Indeed his heart is there in many of the scenes but is it there for the whole film? Not really, no. (Though one has to admire Cheadle's hard work.)

Miles Ahead has its flaws but Cheadle does capture one thing very well: the legend that surrounds Davis to this very day. Indeed Davis was a man with flaws (Cheadle makes no bones about that) but the impact he had on the music world is one that could never be tarnished.

My Rating: ***1/2