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Beefcake
Strand Releasing
FILM:
MPAA RATING: Not rated
Starring
Daniel MacIvor,
Joshua Peace,
Carroll Godsman,
Jonathon Torrens,
and
Jack Griffin Mazeika
This film looks at the life of photographer Bob Mizer during the 1950's and the phenomenon of men's muscle magazines, primarily being purchased by the still underground homosexual community.
| GENRE(S): |
Drama
|
| WRITTEN BY: |
Thom Fitzgerald
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Thom Fitzgerald
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: December 12, 2000
Video: December 12, 2000
Theatrical: October 29, 1999
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
97 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
France / Canada / UK |
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
75
Mr. Showbiz
Kevin Maynard
Tries to have it both ways -- as a kitschy ode to bodybuilding culture and as a tragic story of a man who was persecuted for his dreams.
70
TV Guide
Ken Fox
Fanciful and highly entertaining docudrama.
67
Austin Chronicle
Russell Smith
There's an undeniable energy, originality and -- most hearteningly -- optimism here that makes Beefcake well worth your time, shortcomings and all.
63
Boston Globe
Jim Sullivan
It leaves you with an odd, sweet-and-sour taste - nostalgia painted in pastel colors, streaked with black smears.
63
Chicago Tribune
John Petrakis
Much to enjoy in this potpourri of silly fun and forbidden games, but a bit less ambition and a tad more focus might have helped.
60
Village Voice
Vince Aletti
Beefcake's messiness has real charm, and its tribute to Mizer is both appropriately complicated and poignantly sexy.
60
The New York Times
Stephen Holden
A fascinating double-edged portrait of 1950s Los Angeles.
60
Los Angeles Times
Kevin Thomas
An illuminating and engrossing look at the life and times of pioneer Los Angeles physique photographer Bob Mizer
60
Variety
Dennis Harvey
As a mix of nonfiction and wafer-thin drama, however, it's a genial mess in which both elements emerge undercooked
58
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Paula Nechak
A heady, impressionistic mixture of biography, fantasy and social history in which it isn't always clear which is which.
50
Film.com
Ernest Hardy
Like the melancholy remininces of an old relative who lived through an exciting, even harrowing time, but no longer possesses the mental faculties to really flesh out the tale they're spinning.
50
New York Daily News
Jami Bernard
This movie's attempt to reinvent Mizer as a First Amendment hero isn't as effective as its triumphant display of beefcake, which is, after all, the movie's raison d'etre.
40
Chicago Reader
Lisa Alspector
Ultimately this is a sharp-focus issue movie, decrying intolerance as it explores the effects of labeling, the complexity of fetishizing, and the differences between business and crime.
38
New York Post
Jonathan Foreman
A campy docu-drama about the secretly gay world of 1950's muscle magazines.
20
LA Weekly
Chuck Stephens
Dull, tacky docudrama
 The average user rating for this movie is 8.0 (out of 10) based on 1 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
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