Miles Ahead (2016) * * *

Directed by:  Don Cheadle

Starring:  Don Cheadle, Ewan McGregor, Michael Stuhlbarg, Emayatzy Corinealdi, Austin Lyon

In Don Cheadle's Miles Ahead, a study of the life of jazz legend Miles Davis, he is not afraid to show his subject's faults.     There is no deification of Davis.    He was a surly man who could really, really play the trumpet.     He was his best self when he was performing or recording.     He seemed more agreeable, more collaborative, and more personable when he was in the music zone.     If he could live on stage or in a recording studio, his life would have been much happier.

Don Cheadle is not afraid to play controversial public figures with more than a few warts.    In 2007's Talk to Me, he played groundbreaking radio talk show host Petey Greene, who was sometimes downright impossible to deal with.    Like Petey Greene, Cheadle invests a great deal of humanity into Miles Davis.     He hides his hurts in drugs and may as well wear a "Do Not Disturb" sign around his neck.     But, he does let his guard down also.    Sometimes this is to his detriment.    He at first gives a very hard time to a Rolling Stone reporter (McGregor) looking to interview him, which leads to a stolen demo of the first new Miles Davis music in five years.     His record company gave him endless advances and now they want something to show for it.

Miles Ahead focuses on the five-year period in Davis' life when he hid in seclusion due to health (and let's face it, emotional issues).     There are flashbacks to better times.     Or even worse times.     Both feature Frances Taylor (Corinealdi), an aspiring dancer who became Davis' wife.    He loved her, but not enough to stop being his worst self.     He asks his wife to give up dancing to be with him, but he is not willing to give up other women or drugs.    Corinealdi is a sweet woman who puts up with Miles and his abusive personality, but only to a point.     Her departure from his life led to a downward spiral which he was somehow able to pull out of and continue performing until his death in 1991.

It is not surprising to learn the reporter character and the subplot surrounding the disappearing music reel are fictional.    The whole subplot was not a good fit for the story.    We see car chases and crashes.    We see Miles Davis running from and returning gunfire like an action hero.     I was halfway expecting him to pull a gun out of his trumpet case.     Do we need to see Miles Davis as Shaft?  

The better parts of Miles Ahead are when we see Davis honestly portrayed by Cheadle.    It is a brave performance because it pulls no punches.    Cheadle also co-wrote and directed the film.     The real stuff is played honestly and straightforward, without trying to make a hero out of its subject.     But there are other dimensions touched on.    In some biopics based on musicians, there are times when anywhere from two to five full songs are performed on stage.     To me, this is just extending the running time.     The musical sequences of Miles Ahead show us exactly what we need to see.     We don't need to sit through a whole song to understand Davis' talent, or what drove him to call up a radio station playing his songs and tell the worshipful host, "I missed on Kind of Blue."    The host thinks he is wrong, but only the real Miles Davis would have that kind of insight for sure.     And be honest enough to say it.