In fact, anyone who grew up with the Beatles knows a few key questions about their mentor Brian Epstein, the subject of the new biopic Midas. You may know him as running a go-to document retailer in Liverpool when he first noticed The Beatles were running Cavern Membership and realized his future was in managing them. You almost definitely know that it was Epstein who transformed the Beatles photo, photographing the four scruffy working-class rockers in black leather jackets, dressing them in collarless gray suits and giving them the legendary haircut Floor-sweeping hairstyle – This look elicited a thousand screams. Or, visionary means he spearheaded the Beatles' global career, landing them a deal to watch “The Ed Sullivan Show.” Or the fact that Epstein was gay, which was something he hid well.
For those of you who've seen the Brian Epstein videos, you also know the most resonant and, to some extent, most fascinating thing about him: He's an upstanding British gentleman with an eye for Firm and low-key. Key to the appeal, he speaks in silky, aristocratic Polish (the product of years of private university education). He was conservative in his businessmanlike demeanor, as the Beatles had always been rebellious and shameless.
If you recognize just a few of them, you'll go into “The Midas” hungry for the legendary anecdotes it's crammed into (director Joe Stephenson, screenwriters Bridget Grant and Jonathan Wakeham These anecdotes are conveyed in a rather perfunctory drama – movie style). After all, you want to see who Brian Epstein really is—the man beneath the photo, one thing the film presents with dutiful tabloid elements. But there's one thing that's also a little perfunctory like a TV movie. Even the sketchiest TV biopics of the '80s always dealt with the “dark side,” because that's where the show was supposedly set.
In “The Midas” we get a glimpse into Epstein's secret gay life in Liverpool (picking up men at night at remote cruising spots, and to some extent being involved with a mugger who threatened to blackmail him). We see how uncomfortable the emerging awareness of his secret side makes his traditional Jewish parents, the adoring Queenie (Emily Watson) and the sternly resentful Harry (Eddie Marsan) . Later, when the Beatles become famous and Epstein moves to London, we see Brian's relationship with an American actor named Tex (Ed Spears) become liberated, but But there is a problem, and we see his growing dependence on himself. Treatment: He always has a glass of whiskey in his hand and his ever-increasing cocktail of amphetamines and barbiturates (so that he can walk around…and sleep). However, while this is all true, the mere presentation of these things feels rather…commonplace.
The film stars Jacob Fortune-Lloyd, an interesting actor (best recognized for his performance in “The Queen's Gambit”) who delivers a dramatic performance Brian's intelligence, and his enthusiasm for the Beatles were a response to their magic. Translated into an equation – about how these women in a packed crowd of cave members can be as mediocre as they are on an international scale. He saw it all coming. But I wish Fortune's Lloyd looked more like Bryan (he's taller, darker, and thicker-boned), and that he had more of Epstein's almost painful velvet politeness.
The production of “The Midas” was troubled, with a revolving door of executives and a particular flaw you wouldn't see outside of a modestly budgeted early Beatles biopic. Apparently many of the film's buyers thought it would contain unique Beatles songs – but the truth is, the producers never secured the rights. So every song we hear the Beatles perform in the movie is a cover (“Mr. Postman,” “Cash,” etc.).
Sorry, but I may have advised the buyer. Under what circumstances would Apple or Sony Music Publishing license the use of The Beatles' music for small-scale, unbiased production? “Backbeat,” the excellent 1994 biopic of the Beatles' early days, runs into the same obstacles, but it manages to invent itself (and it does so because the film only takes place in Liverpool and Hamburg ). However, by the time Midas reaches its second installment, the Beatles have become famous and you feel their music disappear, as if the scene has been shrunk.
Finding actors to impersonate The Beatles would almost always be a daunting endeavor, but I'm sure these actors did it on the cheap – Blake Richardson was keen to recreate Paul's smile, swagger Breasts and naive stubbornness, Jonah Lees points out the vulnerability beneath John's hostility (although he's quick too! – couldn't they give him a ride?).
After meeting the cave members for the first time, Brian said backstage, “You've Maha-velous”, which resulted in a lot of ridicule for his fashion style. But his loyalty was real. When the Beatles couldn't seem to find a doc to signal them, he persevered, so they focused on comedy Parlophone Auditions are held. There they need to win over the family's producer, George R. Martin (played by Charlie Palmer Rothwell), who looks a lot like Martin and imitates him so exquisitely. With such talent and Mona Lisa frown that he elevates the film in a weird way, meaning, it kind of hurts. Rothwell spends a few minutes reminding you what a biopic can be. What it would be like when sex was just as important. The rest of “The Midas Man”… not so much. (Jay Leno as Ed Sullivan? We get the idea, but the performance of it must be…huh?)
Still, Midas is not less enjoyable to watch, and it does capture a trustworthy and moving thing about Brian Epstein. His love for the Beatles, and the career that made them even more legendary than Elvis, is so fascinating that he seems like a man living his dream. But keeping his romantic life in the closet tortured him. He has his own hookups (and doesn't seem to feel guilty about his sexuality), but the intense intolerance of his society means it's nearly impossible for him to fully realize it yes with someone. Therefore, the prison in which Brian found himself was undoubtedly a religious segregation prison. He has no family of his own and desperately needs one. The Beatles were like family, and so was the charming Cilla Black (Darcy Shaw), who was certainly one of his emerging artists. However, they cannot fill the void of loneliness. So when John, alarmed by the controversy surrounding his “The Beatles are bigger than Jesus” comment, told Brian in 1966 that he wanted to stop touring, it was as if Brian had been kicked out of his personal existence Practice the same.
Midas makes us feel real affection for Brian. But the film is too sketchy on too many possible issues. It shows us what his exact townhouse in London looks like, but what about his hobbies? His film style? give us one thing The scenes from the past are of an eye-catchingly high quality. In the final part of the movie, we hope to see more of how Brian's relationship with the Beatles develops. “The Midas Man” implies that when the band finished touring, they almost didn't want Brian anymore; that wasn't the case.
The film doesn't quite turn to the dark side enough in the long run. On August 27, 1967, Brian Epstein died of an accidental drug overdose. He is 32 years old and at the top of his game. But he had large amounts of stimulants and depressants in his system. This is an overdose of a drug that absolutely has the consequences of slow, mindless self-destruction. “Midas” shouldn't have solved the problem by making that chapter of his life a thriller. Brian Epstein deserves a watchable, serviceable, and in some ways overly corny biopic. Let's hope that in the future (perhaps in Sam Mendes' upcoming Beatles movie?) his behind-the-scenes genius, and supremely civilized joy and torture, will get its due.
