Title: Magazine Dreams
MPA Rating: R
Director: Elijah Bynum
Starring: Jonathan Majors, Harrison Page, Haley Bennett
Runtime: 2 hrs 3 mins

What It Is: Killian Maddox (Majors) is an amateur bodybuilder trying to make his way through the competitive scene and reach the pros. His biggest obstacle? His own demons. He’s pushing himself to the limit—both mentally and physically—in pursuit of what he perceives as perfection in the world of bodybuilding. Will the demons inevitably win, or will Killian finally figure his life out and get a chance to live his dreams?

What We Think: Let’s start with the very large elephant in the room: Jonathan Majors did a bad thing—something no one should ever do. That has no effect on my thoughts about this or any film he’s in. I just wanted to clear that up.

That said, this film is a total bore. Where a sports film like this should work and evoke emotion, it simply doesn’t. The Iron Claw, for example, is an excellent film in a similar vein that mostly delivers, both in performance and narrative—even though that narrative is personally complicated by my own knowledge base.

This film, however, does nothing with what is actually a pretty great performance from Majors. It all falls flat, and the real issue is the pacing. There’s deliberate, and then there’s plodding. Sadly, this is the latter.

Our Grade: C-, The potential was there—sadly, the execution wasn’t. I think with a little more refinement and a clearer focus on developing the narrative, this would’ve grabbed me more. As it stands, the film is just okay.

Whatever you think of Majors as a man or a person, I can confidently say that he can still act. The same guy from The Last Black Man in San Francisco and The Harder They Fall is still in there. If an exploration of a flawed individual intrigues you, there’s much to unpack—if you can stay awake.