And I mean they're "terrible" in the sense that neither one really delves into, or expands upon, the "race issue" in the same way that the piece I linked to does.

Here's a much better, mixed review of the film that also touches on the "race issues" that were dismissed as "briefly touched upon" by those reviews that you liked:

http://grantland.com/features/guardians-of-the-galaxy-get-on-up-review/

There's also a terrible piece by Aisha Harris that does the usual blog fact checking bullshit, by listing off every single instance of social activism of James Brown's that she feels was "a shame" they left out of a movie that already runs 2 hours and 18 minutes:

http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2014/08/01/james_brown_s_social_activism_a_brief_history_of_the_singer_s_politics_not.html?wpsrc=fol_fb

The problem with the Howard think piece, and those two reviews, and Harris' list, is the assumption they all make that the James Brown story is and should only be told one way, and one way only: with a checklist of events that happened in Brown's life, and with an ultra-strong emphasis on the undeniable racism that he encountered throughout.

(Howard is also assuming that no black writers were brought in to do uncredited rewrite work on the script, either before or during production).

This movie touches on race. James Brown talks about - and jones on - white folks in this film. He's also shown making power moves in the face of racism. He's also shown triumphing (and in the case of the Famous Flames, faltering) in the face of music industry racism.


>I'm probably just not going to like this film no matter how
>it's done (because it's JAMES BROWN - he's like a great uncle
>to me), but starting with the car chase is a low blow to me. I
>also haven't forgiven Taye Turner for "The Help", and feel he
>is one of the least qualified people in Hollywood to be
>anywhere near a JB picture.

And now we get to the meat of the problem. I think seeing the movie will give you a better perspective on what it set out to do and the story it wanted to tell (or at least allude to) and the points it touches on. And at the very least you'll be able to appreciate the performances from Chadwick Boseman and Nelsan Ellis. Doesn't mean like the movie cause it's perfect; it's most certainly not (I had more of a problem with the dearth of female screen time than the alleged glossing over of the racism of the time), but it's worth a watch for those performances that I mentioned.

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Gender Coons Gotta Go