4 star well written look at the man who changed the face of music.
Midas Man is a 2024 British biographical film telling the story of the tragically short but enormously influential life of music entrepreneur Brian Epstein.
Directed by Joe Stephenson (Chicken, Doctor Jekyll), it is available to stream on Prime Video from 30th October 2024.
“Oh, here we go again. I knew it was too good to be true, you can’t settle can you? Even after all those expensive private schools, how many was it?”
It’s 1959 in Liverpool and a young Brian Epstein (Jacob Fortune- Lloyd – See How They Run, Crooked House) is working at his parents furniture store. However, he has an idea, he wants to start selling records that young people are interested in. His parents Queenie (Emily Watson – Gosford Park, Red Dragon) and Harry (Eddie Marsan – Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, Moby Dick) are sceptical, but within two years it has become NEMS, one of the biggest and most well known record stores in the North West.
They offer a service which promises to be able to obtain any disc from anywhere in five days and one day his attention is drawn to a recording of My Bonny, made in Hamburg, as lots of his customers are requesting it. His assistant Alastair (Milo Parker – Robot Overlords, Mr. Holmes) insists it will blow over, but he believes otherwise and heads off to watch them perform at the cavern. He realises he is seeing something genuinely special and decides he wants to manage them. That band is The Beatles.
He liberates them from their current manager Allan Williams (Eddie Izzard – Six Minutes to Midnight, Rock Dog), eventually manages to get them a record deal with George Martin (Charley Palmer Rothwell – Legend, Dunkirk) and thus begins their meteoric rise to stardom. He also signs a number of other successful acts, including Cilla Black (Darci Shaw – The Colour Room) and Gerry and the Pacemakers. However, living as a homosexual in a time when it is still illegal begins to take its toll and as his acts rise, his American squeeze Tex Ellington (Ed Speleers – Star Trek: Picard) heads across the pond and his own private life starts to spiral out of control.
“John, you will never find anyone who will work harder for you than me. Don’t forget that.”
Midas Man is an excellent watch, which captures the spirit of the swinging sixties brilliantly. The acting performances are all fantastic, with Jacob Fortune-Lloyd putting in a very believable performance.
The real stars of the film however are The Fab Four, John Lennon (Jonah Lees – The Phantom of the Open, Tale of Tales), Paul McCartney (Blake Richardson – New Hope Club), George Harrison (Leo Harvey-Elledge – Better Man) and Ringo Starr (Campbell Wallace), who not only perform all the songs but have also mastered the mannerisms, they really do look and sound like The Beatles. The casting department also deserve a shout out for Jay Leno (The Tonight Show With Jay Leno) as Ed sullivan, a stroke of genius.
The filming style is interesting, with Epstein telling his own story into the camera, which works really well. This might not bring any revelations to the table, but it’s a well handled and respectful tale of a man who was affectionately known as ‘The Fifth Beatle’. Well worth a watch.
“This time it’s different. Perhaps it’s the studio. Perhaps it’s because the pressure is off, or at least they think it is. But whatever it is, there’s no doubt in my mind, they belong.”
Midas Man is streaming on Prime Video 30 October
| Director | Joe Stephenson |
| Genre | Biography, music |
| Starring | Jacob Fortune-Lloyd, Eddie Marsan, Jonah Lees, Darci Shaw |