Mapplethorpe | Rotten Tomatoes (original) (raw)
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Critics Consensus
Mapplethorpe's conventional biopic approach to a decidedly unconventional artist undermines its efforts to convey the gifts that made its subject special.
Marissa De La Cerda Chicago Reader 03/10/2020 Another entry in the list of biopics (like Bohemian Rhapsody) that reduce the career of an iconoclast to a formulaic biopic that refuses to scratch beneath the surface. Go to Full Review Matthew Lickona San Diego Reader 03/22/2019 How do you hew so close to biopic conventions -a dutiful recitation of this event happened, this fame arrived, that tragedy struck, etc - when you're dealing with an artist whose whole raison d'etre was finding beauty at the extreme edges of things? Go to Full Review Mark Jenkins Washington Post 03/13/2019 If the new biopic "Mapplethorpe" presents this transgressive vision is vivid detail - and it does - that's only because it includes so many of Mapplethorpe's pictures. Everything else in the film is timid and pedestrian. Go to Full Review Brian T. Carney Washington Blade 12/07/2022 ...for anyone who’s not familiar with Mapplethorpe’s life and work, the film is a great introduction to this recent queer hero. Go to Full Review Michael Cuby them. 11/01/2022 Mapplethorpe is a compelling look at one of our nation’s most enduringly controversial provocateurs. Go to Full Review Ben Turner The Pink Lens 09/01/2021 exploring the psychology of one of the most challenging photographers in history makes for fairly interesting viewing, even if its execution is about as artistic as an Argos catalogue. Go to Full Review Read all reviews
Wayne S @RT68546497 Sep 19 It's a biopic, and as such it's a fairly uncreative approach like so many others are. But films such as this rest on the performance of the actor playing the subject. Here Matt Smith is terrific and convincing. In fact all performances are excellent and sell it as a engrossing look at Mapplethorpe's life. See more Bruce M @RT84479987 11/27/2022 Not as bad as i thought it would be See more 07/06/2021 Matt Smith is extraordinary in this biopic of the controversial photographer. It is a full on sex, drugs and rock and roll story set against the dizzying background of New York in the 1970s and 1980s and the movie really confronts the nature of Mapplethorpe's work. If you have ever seen his photographs and wondered about the man behind the lens, you need to see this film. See more 12/07/2020 The writer & director cowered at the opportunity a movie about Mapplethorpe gave them. While I commend the filmmakers for not flinching in showing some of Mapplethorpe’s work, this biopic is as bland as I heated chicken broth. How can you make a movie about such an icon and have so little to share about his life, method and motivation. See more 07/21/2019 Matt Smith is amazing as Mapplethorpe! See more 02/18/2019 Saw some of his pictures at the Guggenheim and they were utter garbage. He was a disgusting person taking disgusting photos! See more Read all reviews
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Synopsis A chronicle of the career of photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, from his rise to fame in the 1970s to his death in 1989 at the age of 42.
Director
Ondi Timoner
Producer
Richard J. Bosner, Eliza Dushku, Nate Dushku, Ondi Timoner
Screenwriter
Ondi Timoner, Mikko Alanne
Distributor
Samuel Goldwyn Films
Production Co
Interloper Films, Boston Diva Productions
Genre
Biography, Drama, LGBTQ+
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Mar 1, 2019, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Jun 6, 2019
Box Office (Gross USA)
$91.0K
Runtime
1h 42m
Aspect Ratio
Flat (1.85:1)