Jonno Davies as “Robbie Williams” in Better Man from Paramount Pictures

Does Better Man make a monkey out of British musician Robbie Williams? Well, no, but it does make an ape, specifically a chimp, out of the one-time member of British boy-band Take That, a singing star who achieved greater fame in a successful solo career.

Actually, the “monkey man” idea was Robbie Williams’ own. And that motion-capture creation works better in this biopic than you expect, helping emphasize Williams’ own feeling of being a misfit in the world, as well as helping us spot the character, the only ape one, in any crowd. Plus it means Jonno Davies, who plays the motion-capture young Robbie Williams, does not actually have to look like him.

Don’t know the name Robbie Williams? It doesn’t matter, if you are a fan or even unfamiliar with the singer’s career, because this...