Last January I was able to screen Elijah Bynum’s “Magazine Dreams” thanks to the Sundance Film Festival website.
“Magazine Dreams” was up for distribution and starred Jonathan Majors, so everyone clamored to see it.
The movie– about a body builder who’s quite violent and finally snaps — was so grim I didn’t want to review it. It was too depressing.
Imagine my surprise when Disney’s Searchlight picked it up for the fall, and an Oscars push. I couldn’t imagine Academy voters warming to this story.
A few weeks later, I actually met and shook hands with Majors at the Oscars. He was actually very engaging. I mentioned I’d seen the movie, I didn’t tell him what I thought. A week later, Majors was arrested for domestic abuse. His career, at least for now, is over after being found guilty today of assault and harassment.
“Magazine Dreams” has a robust 84% on Rotten Tomatoes. All the critics who liked it cited Majors’ impressive performance even if the movie itself was lacking in many ways. Searchlight probably thought they could get Best Actor nominations and wins regardless of the film’s downbeat arc.
Now, apart from the critics, it’s hard to imagine who will see “Magazine Dreams.” Searchlight can just bank it in the vault or sell it back to its producers. If the producers get it back they could put it on VOD. But Majors would be wise not to encourage that. Killian Maddox, his character, is disturbed and disturbing. He’s no Willy Wonka. Frankly, he’s lucky the jury never saw it.
For writer-director Bynum, this has to be a massive disappointment. Regardless of the cons, the pro’s outweighed them. Bynum’s career would have taken a big jump forward. Whatever happens, we can only hope he’ll get another shot and make a movie even better.
