For many Americans, director Michael Gracey’s kaleidoscopic portrait of the Brit-pop sensation’s career will double as an overdue introduction.

Robbie Williams may not be familiar to many in the United States, but in his native Britain, he became a huge pop star, performing to adoring crowds and making 14 No. 1 singles.

I’m not kidding. And neither are “Better Man” subject Robbie Williams nor the film’s director Michael Gracey. This rise, fall and very fast 12-step recovery saga of the English singing sensation few Americans know presents Williams as a CG chimpanzee.

The British pop superstar is portrayed as a monkey in the biographical musical film. Doug Hyde contributed to this story by David Daniel.

There are moments in "Better Man," the often thrilling biopic of unabashedly cheeky U.K. pop star Robbie Williams, where you forget you're watching a CGI monkey in the lead role. But you are watching a CGI monkey,