‘Get On Up’ Gets Down in First Trailer

Get On Up, director Tate Taylor’s follow-up to his Oscar-winning The Help, finds Chadwick Boseman (42) as the Godfather of Soul, a chronicle of James Brown’s rise from extreme poverty to become one of the most influential musicians in history. Surrounded by Oscar winners (Octavia Spencer, The Help) and Oscar nominees (Viola Davis, Doubt and The Help) and Dan Aykroyd (Driving Miss Daisy), this has all of the trapping of an Oscar-y biopic yet feels a bit light.

The official synopsis:

• In his follow-up to the four-time Academy Award®-nominated blockbuster The Help, Tate Taylor directs 42’s Chadwick Boseman as James Brown in Get on Up.  Based on the incredible life story of the Godfather of Soul, the film will give a fearless look inside the music, moves and moods of Brown, taking audiences on the journey from his impoverished childhood to his evolution into one of the most influential figures of the 20th century.  Boseman is joined in the drama by Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, Nelsan Ellis, Lennie James, Tika Sumpter, Jill Scott and Dan Aykroyd.

How deeply will it go into Brown’s later in life troubles? We’ll see when the movie opens August 1, 2014, near the same time The Help did in 2011.