More than fifty years after The Beatles broke up films are still being made about the fab four that there surely can’t be much more to be said. So instead Midas Man focuses more on the man behind then men who made them stars : Brian Epstein the fledgling genius who spotted their potential, smartened them up, got them a record deal and put them in front of the right people. And that process began on 9th November 1961 when he saw them play Liverpool’s Cavern club, a basement den of screaming women that has only ever been equalled with disastrous consequences by Josef Fritzl.
Back from a gruelling tour of Hamburg the band were still a foursome of leather jacketed yobbos with Pete Best on drums though not for long. At the time Epstein had a record store and had an eye on which bands were on the up and wanting to be a manager he saw the potential in the band. Midas Man is his story, a man who turned the Mersey sound into gold played against a background of his own personal demons. A gay man out of time before homosexuality was legalized in 1967 he found himself victim to blackmail and compromised by a US lover who stole from him although for some reason this last character and scenario are fictional rather than fact. Epstein, as played by Jacob Fortune-Lloyd is a sympathetic, engaging and likeable man and a film about who the band called the fifth Beatle is long overdue.
Helmed by Joe Stephenson, he is the third director from what has been a prolonged production with Jonas Akerlund and Sara Sugarman the previous incumbents. But it is credit to Stephenson that he has salvaged the production and made an enjoyable though not always insightful look at Epstein known as Eppy to his friends. There’s are informative fourth wall breaks by Epstein in a film that is a little overlong and unable to use any Beatle songs – as any producer will tell you the songs are notoriously expensive to licence for any film maker.
The actors playing the Beatles mostly bear some resemblance to the band though Lennon occasionally looks like Peter Sellers, George Harrison occasionally looks Like Nicholas Hoult playing the role and Ringo Starr looks like, well anyone but Ringo Starr but as a foursome the actors have banter and repartee down to a tee! Eddie Izzard has an enjoyable cameo as the former manager who never saw the bands talent. And Charley Palmer Rothwell captures the genteel gentlemanliness of George Martin. Emily Watson & Eddie Marsan as Brian’s parents are as good as ever and an appearance from, of all people, Jay Leno as Ed Sullivan is something of a surprise.
Midas Man, despite its troubled history, works well and is an engaging if ultimately tragic drama and its a testimony to director Joe Stephenson that he’s a safe and creative pair of hands that‘s complimented by an affecting central performance from Jacob Fortune-Lloyd.
related feature : With Eddie Izzard as Doctor Jekyll we chat to director & star Joe Stephenson & Scott Chambers….
related feature : ‘The Beatles : 8 Days a Week’ – The Touring Years – REVIEW
Here’s the Midas Man trailer….
Midas Man is streaming on Prime Video 30th October 2024
