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Midas Man is centred around the unfortunately short-lived career that Brian Epstein (Jacob Fortune-Lloyd – See How They Run) had when starting to manage pop band, first seeing The Beatles at the Cavern Club in Liverpool, Nov 9th 1961.
Certainly a step up from when we flash back to 1959, working in his family’s store selling furniture, music, etc, giving his Dad, Harry (Eddie Marsan – Suspect), a list of ideas about how to improve the business, but he’s the typical steadfast grumpy old Hector, who doesn’t want to hear it. Still, he has bigger dreams ahead.
Amongst the authentic-looking recreation of the Swinging ’60s, we motor through their introductory stage, as he sorts out their suits, their hair style and everything else, although getting haircuts AFTER putting the suits on is always a bad idea, as there’s hair EVERYWHERE!
With John Lennon (Jonah Lees – Tale Of Tales) and Paul McCartney (Blake Richardson) mostly brought to the fore out of the quartet, Epstein makes them an offer they can’t refuse in the form of a contract, where if they’re not happy at anytime, they can simply walk away, with him being very serious and determined, while the band, who are a few years younger than him, treating it a bit like a joke.
And bear in mind that at this point, Pete Best (Adam Lawrence – England Is Mine) was still in the band, but we all know what happened later, but for me, I preferred The Beatles’ late ’60s output, when they became more experimental and got away from the bland “Love Me Do“-type songs, and into the likes of Sgt Pepper.
Epstein was instrumental in their success with their instruments – including their voices, but he sadly passed away in 1967, at the young age of 32, following an accidental death as a result of alcohol and barbiturates.
However, his legacy lived on, as he brought a number of rising stars to the heights, including Gerry and the Pacemakers, Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas, and Cilla Black.
As a film, however, Midas Man is interesting, with assured performances from Jacob Fortune-Lloyd – occasionally breaking the fourth wall, plus Jonah Lees and Blake Richardson as John and Paul, but it just feels way too by-the-numbers and plays too much of a straight bat. The writing is like one of those stories you were told never to write at school, i.e. First we did this, then we did that, then we did the next thing, and so on. It just never excites me in any way. Maybe it would’ve had to a degree if I’d been a child of the ’60s rather than the ’80s.
There’s also the welcome addition of Eddie Marsan and Emily Mortimer (Too Close) as his parents, but they’re more like cameos than anything else.
Additionally, Midas Man is largely shot in 2.39:1, but the first section is almost ten minutes long and in a narrower 1.85:1. I get the reason for it, as it expands to the wider ratio at a pivotal point, but it is a long time to wait for it, with a windowboxed image onscreen, as it has to fit witin the 2.39:1 frame.
There is no mid- or post-credits scene.
Thanks to our friends at Prime Video for the screener prior to release.
Midas Man is on Prime Video from tomorrow, but the film isn’t yet available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 112 minutes
Release date: October 30th 2024
Studio: Prime Video, Signature Entertainment
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 (first 9-10 mins in 1.85:1)
Rating: 5/10
Director: Joe Stephenson
Producers: Trevor Beattie, Jeremy Chatterton, Billy Dietrich, Richard Holmes, Tom Reeve, Perry Trevers
Screenplay: Brigit Grant, Jonathan Wakeham
Music: Alex Baranowski
Cast:
Brian Epstein: Jacob Fortune-Lloyd
John Lennon: Jonah Lees
Paul McCartney: Blake Richardson
George Harrison: Leo Harvey-Elledge
Ringo Starr: Campbell Wallace
Pete Best: Adam Lawrence
Malka Epstein: Emily Watson
Harry Epstein: Eddie Marsan
Alastair Taylor: Milo Parker
Tex Ellington: Ed Speleers
Sidney Beecher-Stevens: Luke Allen-Gale
Cilla Black: Darci Shaw
Ed Sullivan: Jay Leno
Allan Williams: Eddie Izzard
Clive Epstein: Bill Milner
George Martin: Charley Palmer Rothwell
Nat Weiss: James Corrigan
Gerry Marsden: Jordan Kelly
Joanne Epstein: Emilia Hersnip
Princess Margaret: Lauren Harris
Priory Receptionist: Gemma Simons
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.