It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

Don Cheadle Directs Himself as Miles Davis, Nice Job on what If I remember correctly is his directorial debut. The film ping-pongs back and forth from the early 80's, right before Miles comes back from a 5 year or so hiatus to the 50's/60's era when he was married to dancer Frances Taylor. The film has a madcap side to it with Ewan Mcgregor in a fun turn as a Rolling Stone reporter out to interview Miles and almost doubling as Miles' sidekick in a romp through the city (New York?) in the early 80's. I don't want to give much away but I recommend the film, it is pretty amusing and jazz + biopic fans will find much to enjoy!

Actually, pretty good.. I usually hold so much disdain for all Hollywood movie portrayals, whether they be jazz, doo-wop, rhythm and blues.. I always find them so over the top, ridiculous, more than often inaccurate both chronologically and factually. I thought Bird and Round Midnight were quite disappointing, but this montage of the life of Miles Davis was done artistically well. It's not a biography in the traditional sense with a beginning, a middle, and an ending, but rather selected incidents from the trumpeter's life with flashbacks-- a montage, as it were. Excellent performances, particularly by Cheadle, and especially impressive was the fact that Mr. Cheadle took the time to learn the actual trumpet fingerings and give true realism to this work, as a special treat to the trumpeters in the audience. Worth seeing a least once, maybe twice...

When I heard that a Miles Davis biopic was in the works, the first question I had was, "how many women is Miles Davis going to punch in the face in this movie?" The answer is: one, but only under duress.Everybody knows Miles was a woman beater. In a time like the present when feminism is on everybody's mind, the time is certainly not right for a biopic about a man who treats women the way he did.I expected the movie to either cop out and avoid mentioning it, or try to justify it somehow. It takes the latter tack. Miles hits his wife, Frances, in this movie, more out of self defence than anything else. She goes completely crazy throwing things at him, and he doesn't hit her. Then she hits him. It looks, for all the world, like she wants Miles to hit her.So that's how they get away with that.Aside from that, "Miles Ahead" is a pretty typical biopic. It shows a long few days in Miles' life during his shut-in period in the late '70s. He occasionally sees things that take him down memory lane, like old album covers: cue flashbacks. The flashbacks show his relationship with his first wife, Frances Davis. We don't see any of his fatherhood, and you certainly wouldn't know he had two more wives after that one.These flashbacks are, ultimately, less interesting than the main narrative. They don't grab your attention all that much and there isn't much in the way of detail for the jazz fan - yes, Gil Evans makes a blink and you'll miss it appearance, but what about the band mates? They are credited as "piano player", "bass player", etc. This is jazz. One player is as important as any other. But they can't even credit them with names? If they played with Miles on his classic sessions, they were legends.The main narrative often stretches credibility, but it is entertaining. It is here that Don Cheadle's portrayal of Miles really shines.You find yourself wondering, repeatedly, if any of that stuff really happened, but at least Cheadle is having fun. This narrative even employs a McGuffin: a stolen tape that contains the first music Miles has recorded in five years. We take a journey with Miles to Columbia records, jazz clubs, the houses of drug dealers, and Miles' own house, as he tries to retrieve it.The performance of Cheadle's in these scenes makes the movie worth watching, but it is too forgiving of Miles wife-beating in the flashbacks, and too hard to believe in its main narrative.

Lots of user reviews saying "Miles Ahead" ("MA") attempts to elevate filmic cubistic hash to high art... and fails. I don't think he fails.Cheadle made his decisions, and stuck with 'em. He decided to go with a groundwork of a slice of Miles's life during a lost period, punctuated with flashbacks, and the whole thing riven with sudden, jarring, splintered, surreal touches. Worked for me.Other factors. Heard 5h1t said about McGregor, but I think he was pitch perfect... and I figure he took direction well from Cheadle. Though one never knows. Loved Cheadle's direction; warm, direct, honest; and yet also with a touch of caricature here and there.Technically, it's a delight. The colors are intentionally stark and bright, the camera-work is great, the music is great. By now, there's no excuse for the film representation of musicianship not to feel genuine, convincing, inspiring. The edits are expert, the pacing just fine.There are countless moments which showcase a view of Miles as a deeply feeling man. This is a wonderful counterpoint to pop, post-modern, swanky press representations of Davis as a guy with a lizard soul. I love that Cheadle did that. There's a moment when Miles lovingly caresses the shoulder of his pianist as he walks by (Evans?). The lovingness and respectfulness of that moment filled my own heart. It's kinda funny: I often hold myself back from movies that are trying to reach out to push my buttons. There was something about the way Cheadle manages the tone of his portrayal--and that's through the entire movie, not just moment-by-moment--that invited me to open up and feel those moments of connection *with* his Davis.Anyway... Great film product! Lots of fun to watch. Nice balance of menace and connection.Check it out