Mansome
| Mansome | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Morgan Spurlock |
| Produced by | Ben Silverman Will Arnett Jason Bateman |
| Starring |
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Production companies | |
| Distributed by | MPI Home Video |
Release date |
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Running time | 84 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $18,395[1] |
Mansome is a 2012 documentary film directed by Morgan Spurlock, and executive-produced by actors/comedians Will Arnett and Jason Bateman, and Electus founder Ben Silverman.
Themes
[edit]Mansome looks at male identity as it is expressed through grooming methods.
Definition of mansome
[edit]The term mansome is a neologism in popular culture. The documentary Mansome attempts to clarify exactly what makes a man "mansome".
To groom or not to groom
[edit]The film follows three men (in addition to Spurlock), each with completely different opinions on facial hair and the act of grooming.
- Jack Passion is viewed by some as America's greatest beardsman, and is the only American to ever win first place at the German Beard and Moustache Championships. He is also a multiple world champion in the “Natural Full Beard” category. In Mansome, Passion expresses his belief that a man's natural state is to be bearded, and therefore should be embraced. He even goes so far as to say that those who are clean-shaven are stuck in perpetual boyhood.
- In contrast, Ricky Manchanda is a fashion buyer who believes that proper grooming includes being clean-shaven and perfect. He gets his eyebrows threaded, is a proponent for moisturizing to avoid dry skin and wrinkles, and takes approximately an hour and a half to get ready in the morning.
- Shawn Daivari, a pro wrestler, portrays the extreme grooming requirements imposed by his profession.
Reception
[edit]On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 25% based on reviews from 36 critics, with an average rating of 4.7 out of 10.[2] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 35 out of 100, based on reviews from 14 critics indicating "Generally unfavorable reviews".[3]
The Chicago Sun-Times reviewer Richard Roeper gave the film three stars, calling it "a typically whimsical documentary". He noted that "there's a certain late-to-the-party aspect to Mansome, as if Spurlock has just discovered the metrosexual trend of what, 15 years ago?".[4] Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a positive review and a grade of B+. Gleiberman enjoys how the film both celebrates and laughs "all the ways they can be vain and even inane" and calls it a "funny, incisive talking-head commentary".[5]
The staff of The A.V. Club named it one of the worst movies of 2012, criticizing it as "absolutely insufferable, a shabby excuse for a documentary that sadistically stretches to feature length a premise that would barely support a two-minute short".[6]
References
[edit]- ^ "Mansome (2012) - Financial Information". Archived from the original on 2023-07-18. Retrieved 2024-05-25.
- ^ "Mansome". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on 4 November 2012. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
- ^ "Mansome". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 6 November 2012. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
- ^ Richard Roeper (May 16, 2012). "Spurlock's 'Mansome' tackles a hairy topic". Chicago Sun Times. Archived from the original on 2012-06-02.
- ^ Owen Gleiberman (May 16, 2012). "Mansome". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on March 14, 2020. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
- ^ The worst films of 2012 , The A.V. Club, December 20, 2012, accessed December 20, 2012.