X
  • 2019
  • Unrated
  • Samuel Goldwyn Films
  • 1 h 42 m
  • 2019
  • Unrated
  • Samuel Goldwyn Films
  • 1 h 42 m

Summary Robert Mapplethorpe (Matt Smith) is arguably one of the most important artists of the 20th century. Mapplethorpe discovered himself both sexually and artistically in New York City throughout the 70’s and 80’s. The film explores Mapplethorpe’s life from moments before he and Patti Smith moved into the famed Chelsea hotel, home to a world ...

Directed By: Ondi Timoner

Written By: Mikko Alanne, Bruce Goodrich, Ondi Timoner

  • 2019
  • Unrated
  • Samuel Goldwyn Films
  • 1 h 42 m
  • 2019
  • Unrated
  • Samuel Goldwyn Films
  • 1 h 42 m

Mapplethorpe

Metascore Mixed or Average Based on 20 Critic Reviews
44
User Score Mixed or Average
6.0
My Score
Hover and click to give a rating Saved

Where to Watch

Summary Robert Mapplethorpe (Matt Smith) is arguably one of the most important artists of the 20th century. Mapplethorpe discovered himself both sexually and artistically in New York City throughout the 70’s and 80’s. The film explores Mapplethorpe’s life from moments before he and Patti Smith moved into the famed Chelsea hotel, home to a world ...

Directed By: Ondi Timoner

Written By: Mikko Alanne, Bruce Goodrich, Ondi Timoner

Where to Watch

Top Cast

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View All Cast & Crew

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
Mixed or Average Based on 20 Critic Reviews
44
30% Positive
6 Reviews
35% Mixed
7 Reviews
35% Negative
7 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews

Critic Reviews

 View All
Metascore
Mixed or Average Based on 20 Critic Reviews
44
30% Positive
6 Reviews
35% Mixed
7 Reviews
35% Negative
7 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews
75
Apr 2, 2021
The thing that makes the film stand out is the way it shows artists relating to each other and to their work. It's rare to see a movie about creative people that accurately captures the way they'll size each other up on first meeting and then, once they've determined that the other person is serious, proceed immediately to the sharing of influences and the granular discussion of theory and technique. [2021 Director's Cut]
By Matt Zoller Seitz FULL REVIEW
70
Feb 27, 2019
Overall, I would recommend seeing this film if you are a fan of Mapplethorpe’s work, the New York art world, or of Matt Smith. He gives a bravura performance which outshines everything and everyone on screen.
By Lorry Kikta FULL REVIEW
60
Apr 27, 2018
Even if budgetary restraints sometimes keep Timoner from fully capturing the time she is re-creating, nothing holds Smith back from making Mapplethorpe come alive again, in every sense.
By Dan Callahan FULL REVIEW
40
Feb 27, 2019
What’s missing are the moments in between that actually make up a life and give it emotional resonance.
By Peter Travers FULL REVIEW
38
Mar 1, 2019
A stunningly drab take on the life and legacy of a photographer who merged pornography with grace, Mapplethorpe doesn’t have an artistic signature of its own, so much as a name it doesn’t live up to.
By Nick Allen FULL REVIEW
33
Apr 27, 2018
This runaway train of a biopic renders an iconoclast in the most generic of terms, straining Mapplethorpe’s brief life into a series of bullet-points that feed into each other with all the drama of a Wikipedia page, and a fraction of the context.
By David Ehrlich FULL REVIEW
25
Feb 28, 2019
For a subject of so much titillating eroticism, the script (co-authored by the director and Mikko Alanne) is as dull as navel lint, the lighting is like an undeveloped hospital X-ray and the director has no idea how to move actors around in frame to make them feel like anything more than talking corpses.
By Rex Reed FULL REVIEW

User Reviews

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User Score
Mixed or Average Based on 4 User Ratings
6.0
50% Positive
2 Ratings
25% Mixed
1 Rating
25% Negative
1 Rating

User Reviews

 View All
User Score
Mixed or Average Based on 4 User Ratings
6.0
50% Positive
2 Ratings
25% Mixed
1 Rating
25% Negative
1 Rating

There are no user reviews yet. Be the first to add a review.

Details

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Production Company Boston Diva Productions, Interloper Films, Silver Lining Entertainment, You're Outta Control Pictures, Blue Creek Pictures
Release Date Mar 1, 2019
Duration 1 h 42 m
Rating Unrated
Genres
View All Details

Awards

Tribeca Film Festival
• 2 Nominations
Sidewalk Film Festival
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
Out on Film, Atlanta, US
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination

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