Film Review: I AM WOMAN (2019): A By-The-Numbers Biopic That Underserves Its Groundbreaking Musical Subject

I Am Woman Review

I Am Woman (2019) Film Review, a movie directed by Unjoo Moon, and starring Tilda Cobham-Hervey, Evan Peters, Danielle Macdonald, Matty Cardarople, Jordan Raskopoulos, Maddison-Cleo Muscumeci, Gus Murray, Molly Broadstock, Rita Rani Ahuja, Dusty Sorg, Nicola Frew, Shakila Zab, Katerina Tsompanis, Michael-Anthony Taylor, and Chris Parnell.

Without dredging up all the Bohemian Rhapsody discourse from two years ago, it seems like the music(ian) biopic has firmly planted itself back within the cultural zeitgeist. Sure, we could tear into this genre’s particular proclivity for formula, with emotional rises and falls so dialed in that we can hear their predictable chords from more than a mile off, but I’m sure you’ve heard that all before. And given the box office potential that these works can dole out – bolstered by the ecstatic critical response from their fanbase and the public at-large – I suspect any detractors of these films will simply be derided as cynics, supposedly clouded by their own failed artistries who are reserved in their jealousy to tear down crowd-pleasers with scathing critique.

Now stop me if you’ve heard that train of thought before.

And yet this dynamic serves the industry in and of itself. It reinforces stereotypes between audiences and critics, ensures a steady income for all involved, and maintains the status quo. Like it or not, these musical biopics are here to stay.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Unjoo Moon’s narrative feature debut, the Helen Reddy biopic I Am Woman, fits onto that biopic formula like a shimmery glove does onto the hand of a bedazzled Las Vegas singer. It’s not just that basic fact which makes the film all the more disappointing, but rather that it runs counter to Reddy’s whole struggle within an unforgiving industry.

The film follows Reddy (played by Tilda Cobham-Hervey) through all her highs and lows – from her rocky start in mid-1960s New York City to her move to Los Angeles; from her volatile breakthrough single to her Grammy-winning song “I Am Woman”; from the initial sexism dealt to her by Capitol Records bigshot Artie Mogull (a surprise appearance by Chris Parnell) to her financial hardships of the 1980s; and, of course, her tumultuous relationship with her talent agent husband Jeff Wald (Evan Peters) that constantly weaves itself throughout three decades of her life.

Moon and screenwriter Emma Jensen portray Reddy as a resilient fighter: someone who not only demands respect as a woman in entertainment, but also battles for the legitimacy of her own artistic voice. Her status as a female performer is just as valid as if she were male, just as her showy pop vibes are as if they were headbanging rock ‘n’ roll power ballads. It seems rather peculiar, then, that the filmmakers chose to portray such a pioneering woman with a worn-out, by-the-numbers approach. Not only does it feel like the boring choice, but the thematically incongruous one, too.

Yet I Am Woman is far from the worst biopic dreck.

Moon and Jensen don’t just show the typical highs and lows but also the scrappy hard work in-between the extremes. Scenes like Helen and Jeff’s first date with an awkward chess game showcase charming humility. Others, like the one where the couple gets their friends to collectively jam a radio station’s phone lines with requests for Helen’s first single, has an inspiring sense of struggling-artist gumption.

It’s also intriguing that the film offers up a critique of corporate feminism, calling out companies will seize on social movements for monetary gain. Moon and Jensen even suggest Reddy’s culpability in such exploitation – not only how her record label used her politics for their success, but also how Reddy rode the coattails of the street-level activists for her own personal gain. The film version of Reddy never fully reconciles that allegation, and as a result it’s dropped in full favor of the film’s broader condemnation of culture-wide sexism, but it’s laudable that such a pointed critical barb was brought up in the first place.

Danielle Macdonald shines as Lillian Roxon, the fierce and outspoken ingénue to Cobham-Hervey’s Reddy. Unfortunately she’s given quite a few clichéd one-liners meant to jumpstart Reddy’s political awakening, but Macdonald revels in Roxon’s boldness and delivers the film’s pinnacle performance. Peters similarly leans into the character of Wald, but he feels a bit more limited in his direction. It’s not that he’s not giving it his all, but rather that his few character traits are limited to “coke fiend” and “The Bronx”. The film’s production design and art direction does succeed in its period placement, and Dion Beebe’s cinematography excels during the musical interludes.

But beyond all that, it’s a very familiar tune: a formulaic pop song that plays easily but doesn’t stick at all, with a veneer of entry-level feminism meant to give it a thematic kick. Far from egregious, but not all that effective, either.

Rating: 5/10

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