Written and directed by actor Don Cheadle in his directorial debut, Miles Ahead is a free-form biopic of undisputed jazz great Miles Davis.
Eschewing a traditional structure, Cheadle instead opts to imaginatively inhabit Davis as a created character and persona: giving a brilliant performance, full of attitude, as he explores both the man and the myth. He doesn’t flinch at covering the musician and singer’s notoriety for either his near-fatal heroin addiction or his violence against women; but also details moments of pioneering genius in Davis’ creation of the sound of ‘cool jazz’.
Utilising flashbacks and a loose, improvisatory style (akin to jazz itself) Cheadle effortlessly evokes the period as well as his subject’s proud, neurotic swagger and turbulent life as he recounts his exploits to Rolling Stone reporter Dave Braden (Ewan McGregor).