Magazine Dreams

Magazine Dreams tells the story of a social outcast named Killian Maddox whose dream of becoming a bodybuilder consumes his entire life. But when his depression and his aggressive tendencies also consume him, his obsession with becoming a Mr. Olympia champion brings him to a complete mental breakdown. And while that does make for a rather interesting story, the movie itself is a little problematic. 

Jonathan Majors does an excellent job of leading this film, but it's unfortunate that he's depicting a violent character who is suffering from a mental illness, given how Majors was also convicted of harassment and assault in real-life. So, while I did want to separate this film from Majors' own controversies - especially since plenty of other creative people worked on this movie - it was almost impossible to separate the two. And I imagine that's exactly why Disney and Searchlight didn't want to release the film, even though it had been receiving critical acclaim beforehand.

But Magazine Dreams is a profoundly uncomfortable film to watch even without the Majors controversy. Which makes sense, since this is a deeply sad film that focuses on depression, obsession, and mental illness. But when you add the Majors controversy on top of that, I'm not sure if Magazine Dreams is a movie that I would ever want to watch again - no matter how good it may be. And it is actually really good.

For better or worse, Jonathan Majors does carry the movie on his back. But everyone else in the cast also delivers a really solid performance. The story is engaging, the character development is interesting, and all of the technical details are very good as well. So, it's a shame that all of these elements get overshadowed by Majors and his real-life controversies.

Now, I don't personally know Jonathan Majors, and I won't pretend to know the finer details of his conviction, but none of that changes the fact that real world events have tarnished the legacy of this film. Which is ironic because legacy is a major theme of the movie.

Majors' character spends a lot of time thinking about how he's going to be remembered, and Majors, himself, is going to be remembered for his conviction. For throwing away his promising acting career. For letting his own aggression get the better of him. But that's the bed he's made and now he has to lay in it. It's just a shame that plenty of other people also have to suffer from the consequences of his actions.

Regardless, I don't think I would've enjoyed this movie any better if Jonathan Majors wasn't involved. Because, again, the heavy subject matter did make this a rather hard movie to watch.

So, despite how good the film may be in its own right, Magazine Dreams would, unfortunately, not get a recommendation from me.