Magazine Dreams

Directed by Elijah Bynum, Magazine Dreams follows an aspiring bodybuilder (Jonathan Majors’ Killian Maddox) as he attempts to forge a connection with others while also aggressively pursuing his goals. Filmmaker Bynum, armed with his own screenplay, delivers a fairly traditional character study that’s elevated (and how) by Majors’ committed and often electrifying turn as the temperamental protagonist, as the actor steps into the shoes of his sporadically sympathetic yet predominantly unlikable figure to a degree that remains completely spellbinding from start to finish – with Majors’ hypnotic efforts smoothing over the periodic bumps and lulls within the picture’s far-from-streamlined narrative. (It’s clear, too, that Bynum has elicited superb work from such first-class supporting players as Haley Bennett, Harrison Page, and Harriet Sansom Harris.) And while the bloated 124 minute runtime admittedly does result in a small handful of palpably needless sequences, Magazine Dreams boasts plenty of absolutely jaw-dropping moments (eg a disastrous first date, Killian’s appearance at a competition immediately after a beating, etc) that cumulatively ensure that the picture, for the most part, comes off an engrossing showcase for Majors’ awe-inspiring performance.

***1/2 out of ****