Miles Ahead * * * *

Hey Flip give you 4 stars.
"So what!"

    If you don't know the story of Miles Davis I should forewarn you this is not a conventional biography. But it remains a very good work.  It does not unfold in a chronological or linear pattern, but it still remains clear and lucid. Like Jazz itself, there is a theme, then there is much exploration around the theme but always a return to the thematic core.
    Miles Ahead focuses on the incident of tapes stolen from his apartment in the eighties. Miles had been a recluse for years.  He hadn't released an album for five years.  But he was working - or claimed he was.
    Ewan Mcgregor plays a journalist who wants to interview him and ends up reluctantly assisting him in the recovery of the tapes.  All the evidence suggests that Miles is somewhat unhinged a this stage - full of cocaine, confusion and happy to use a gun to make a point.
    The story unfolds over about 24 hours. But there are many flashbacks to earlier times in Miles career. How he met his wife, his first bands, the repugnant racism he endured, the putting together of some of his classic albums.
    How he trashed his voice box is overlooked - strangely.
   Miles Ahead is a labour of love by Don Cheadle.  He stars as Miles Davis, he directs the film and he wrote the script.  It's a very good outcome.  As, of course, is the music we hear.