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Miles Ahead

Play trailer 2:14 Poster for Miles Ahead R Released Apr 22, 2016 1h 36m Biography History Drama Music Play Trailer Watchlist
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74% Tomatometer 185 Reviews 57% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
In the 1970s, down-and-out jazz trumpeter Miles Davis (Don Cheadle) tries to recover his new session tape from music producers.
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Miles Ahead

Miles Ahead

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Critics Consensus

Miles Ahead is worth watching for Don Cheadle's strong work on both sides of the camera, even if this unconventional biopic doesn't quite capture its subject's timeless appeal.

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Critics Reviews

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Shadow and Act Staff Shadow and Act It’s good enough; but given the legend that is the subject matter, and the paucity of films in which his story is central, I’d argue that it needed to be better than "good enough" – if not great... Sep 15, 2022 Full Review Dwight Brown National Newspaper Publishers Association If you're looking for a conventional bio-film, you'll be disappointed. If you want to get inside the head of the ingenious, erratic, enigmatic high priest of jazz, fasten your seat belt and enjoy the ride. Mar 7, 2017 Full Review Danny Leigh Financial Times Cheadle -- directing his first feature -- creates a film whose nerve its hero would surely admire. Rated: 4/5 Dec 27, 2016 Full Review Brendan Cassidy InSession Film All this shows Don Cheadle as not just a fan himself, but one who also wants to pay appropriate homage and respect to this great artist... Rated: A Jun 18, 2024 Full Review Jordan Brooks Vague Visages In keeping with the tempo and improvisational flair of his subject, Don Cheadle has succeeded in breaking through the standard tediums of biographical film. Aug 1, 2023 Full Review Nikki Baughan AWFJ.org It's an interesting way tell a fascinating story, and Cheadle handles both a difficult role and directorial duties with style. Sep 29, 2021 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Shioka O Don Cheadle worked hard, but Miles Davis looked just a silly man in this and that seems true. The ending is the most worth watching part. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 04/09/24 Full Review Butler C I don't understand some of the low scores for this movie. Were they deaf dumb and blind?! My overall knowledge of Miles Davis is somewhat limited and yet, as a musician (guitarist) I understood exactly what he was talking about in the narrative. For example when he brings up the remark of old people asking him why he no longer plays the same and his explanation of that was pure poetry. The acting was superb; the action was superb and the story, although short in length, was outstanding. Five stars, all the way! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 08/21/22 Full Review Audience Member The star ratings are insufficient. It's not "pass the time". It's also not "good". I think the issue is time availability. It felt like a movie that was just too short, at 1 hour and 40 minutes. "The Temptations" was a four-hour TV miniseries. "Ray" was two and a half hours. Even "Five Heartbeats" which was about a musical act that (technically) doesn't exist, got two hours. "Miles Ahead" felt like a fraction of the story. Things left completely unresolved, and the way the timeline was depicted in the movie was strange - circular, didn't make any sense to me. That felt like a byproduct of a lack of time; how do you get "just enough" of the message in for the length of a regular feature film? Whether this was due to an external constraint or a purposeful decision, it just felt like there was more that could have been done around this man's story - which from what little we did get, was extremely compelling (which is why we wanted more of it and feel there should have been more). Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/20/23 Full Review Audience Member This is one of those movies where everyone whisper and when the music / sound play it’s as loud as can be - also I lost interest 10 minutes in Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 06/08/21 Full Review Audience Member Look, I love Miles Davis. My professor played with Miles. I was expecting a more chronological depiction of the body of work that Miles recorded, everything from from Birth of the Cool to Kind of Blue to Bitches Brew. What we got was a post-minimalist exercise in giving an account of one's life rather than the full story. To be completely honest, I still want a full story kind of thing on this. This film may have lacked a complete rendering of Miles' life story on screen, but I believe one day there will be such a series that handles his origin with elegance. Major props to Don Cheadle for his performance too. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/20/23 Full Review Audience Member For all the people that don't know much about Miles Davis discography and simply hope to gain some knowledge about him, this movie is not optimal. There is kind of a chaos all over the movie and when I read "biographical-drama" I simply hoped to learn a little bit more about his fascinating life. I think that his most important records have been played without really emphasizing their importance all over the movie - blue in green isn't even on the movies soundtrack - and this is something that I really couldn't understand. His biography is paradigmatic of the experiences of many jazz generations, yet Cheadle didn't really put any value on it. The story was still very interesting and to see how Miles lived (of course its not really how he lived 1:1) was really breathtaking. I loved Cheadle's fascinating impression, Evan McGrecor was hilarious and Emayatzy Corinealdi did an awesome job. [LITTLE SPOILER ALERT] It kinda disturbed me though that we didn't really see much about his concerts, his earlier life or the recording of his classics. (You just could see the flashbacks without a really good explanation of when it was and what was going on at that moment in his life). Everything was just about the record that eventually was also not really necessary to have, because you couldn't even hear him play the trumpet on it. It really bothered me that the flashbacks were not quite clear and were kind of disorganized. All in one I still appreciated to see an amazing actor like Don Cheadle playing the role of "the most important jazz trumpet-player". The vibes, the camera, the colors, the actors and also the music were awesome. If I would've known that the movie is not about his life but just about a dark chapter of his life I probably would have expected less. Still liked the movie and I'd recommend it. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/07/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Miles Ahead

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Movie Info

Synopsis In the 1970s, down-and-out jazz trumpeter Miles Davis (Don Cheadle) tries to recover his new session tape from music producers.
Director
Don Cheadle
Producer
Darryl Porter, Vince Wilburn Jr., Daniel Wagner, Robert Ogden Barnum, Don Cheadle, Pamela Hirsch, Lenore Zerman
Screenwriter
Steven Baigelman, Don Cheadle
Distributor
Sony Pictures Classics
Production Co
Naked City Films, IM Global, Sony Pictures Classics, Crescendo, Miles Davis Properties, Sobini Films, Bifrost Pictures
Rating
R (Drug Use|Brief Violence|Some Sexuality/Nudity|Strong Language Throughout)
Genre
Biography, History, Drama, Music
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Apr 22, 2016, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Jul 19, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA)
$2.6M
Runtime
1h 36m
Sound Mix
SDDS, Dolby Digital, DTS
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