Mr. Dynamite: The Rise of James Brown

In addition to electrifying footage from a number of live concerts, including the famous “T.A.M.I. Show” in which Brown upstaged the Rolling Stones (the film’s producer denies that was the case), Mr. Dynamite gives us fascinating insight into the evolution of Brown’s music.

Alex Gibney’s Mr. Dynamite: The Rise Of James Brown is an assured threading-of-the-needle, slowly working its way to the sweet spot where the man and the legend overlap.

Much of the performance footage is phenomenal in that respect. But in two hours time, the film could have dug deeper rather than coming to a screeching halt that almost rivals its subject’s high-pitched stage wails.

This is a smart, informative and compassionate look at the artist known as the Godfather of Soul, whose music changed America.

Mr. Dynamite isn’t hagiography, and we hear enough about Brown’s personal flaws to make him quite human.

The film glosses over the turbulent aspects of Brown's personal life (domestic-abuse charges and an arrest record are mentioned in passing), and it isn't comprehensive (there's nothing about his four wives, six children, drug addiction or his death in 2006). But the tuneful feature-length film is packed with great vintage clips.

Director Alex Gibney’s take is most memorable for its generous use of early and unseen performance footage, but beyond the fancy footwork on display, the project, bloated at a full two hours, seldom gets under its subject’s flashy veneer.