It’s hard to dislike Miles Ahead, Don Cheadle’s free-form biopic of Miles Davis. Everyone likes Miles Davis! Everyone likes Don Cheadle! And it’s a welcome experience to see a biopic that breaks away from the rusty clichés that now define the genre—these days, most biopics are more useful as tranquilizers. (Sorry, The Theory of Everything. Sorry, The Imitation Game. Sorry, The Danish Girl. You [barely] get a pass, Straight Outta Compton.)
Miles Ahead tries something different: Skipping over the biggest moments in Davis’ life—the ones people going to see a movie about Davis will likely expect to see—the film offers a narrative that skips back and forth in time, focusing more on establishing Davis as a character rather than as as a historical figure and musical genius. In addition to writing and directing, Cheadle also plays Davis, and from the opening frames (“Don’t call my music jazz,” he says. “It’s social music”), it’s clear this is a passion project. Cheadle is in this role, and like the best Cheadle characters, Davis is never anything less than fascinating.
Which is where things get tricky.
