Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Curapedi I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Ogosmith Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Catherina If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

lazytime BEEFCAKE is a mess. A mix of documentary and narrative feature, the film is a frustrating failure. When the focus is on archival footage and interviews with fascinating people like Jack LaLanne and Joe Dallesandro, it works. But then it shifts to actors to present the Bob Mizer story. And boy oh boy, are they bad actors. Even the copious amount of male flesh on display can't save BEEFCAKE. Also frustrating is the naive and sugarcoated way Mizer is portrayed. According to BEEFCAKE, Mizer just loved helping people and pleasing his customers and was practically asexual. Puh-lease. It's as if the filmmakers did not want to "go there." LaLanne must have been embarrassed to be involved in what could have been a decent documentary. Listen, if you really want to see skin, rent a porno or get those French rugby team videos from Dieux Du Stade. And if you're interested in the Athletic Model Guild and Mizer's work, seek out the old Physique Pictorials and/or the complete book compilation instead. I cringe just thinking about this movie.

LeathermanCraig Beefcake is a decent 'mock'u-mentary of the life and times of Bob Mizer, founder of the 'Athletic Model Guild' in the early 50s - and precursor to todays muscle mags and also the Playgirl type of magazine. Sure, the storyline is predictable (but, so was 'Titanic') but the characters are all but priceless! And, many of the actors playing the models when young look a lot like the actual models did! This was a great use of stock original footage and 'made to look like' stock original footage. The interviews with the models are priceless, if only for the reality they provide. The acting is spot on, the sets are great and (when viewed in comparison to the original films) quite spot on! One of the other great aspects of the film is the recreation of the AMG original title styles for the credits for this film. All around, a good movie which chronicles the rise and fall of the beginnings of the 'Beefcake' magazine industry!

isaak-1 entertaining film. peace's naivete and macivor's enthusiasm never waiver as the story unfolds. a visually engaging film! interesting use of archival photos and real life interviews with several of the actual players in the story. do not leave before the end credits are completely finished.

Gothick Funny, brave, humane and concise, this movie starts with a sharply different landscape and source material than Thom Fitzgerald's earlier minor masterpiece, The Hanging Garden, but shares with that film a propensity for spotting touches of authentic humanness in the most unlikely places. The flashes of wit range from sheer serendipity (I was startled to hear myself asking my companion, "Who IS that old queen?" when Jack LaLanne appeared, rabbiting on about Muscle Beach) to carefully scripted exchanges in the courtroom scenes. The latter really are a tour de force--think Ed Wood meets Perry Mason--and newcomer Jack Griffin Mazeika turns in a boffo performance as the sly, but vulnerable young Red. Also worthy of praise are Daniel MacIvor as Bob Mizer and the amazing Carroll Godsman as his mother Delilah. Godsman turns what could have been a campy send-up (think Carol Burnett Show) into a remarkably poignant characterization. One weakness of the film is that the script doesn't give her and MacIvor an aftermath scene in the wake of the brilliant courtroom sequence--in fact the ending of the film is a bit on the spotty side, perhaps due to lack of material. I thought the interview footage was fairly cleverly integrated into the framework of the narrative. I was fascinated to see Joe D'Allessandro looking like an older guy you'd see washing his Caddy in his driveway in your neighborhood. He actually looked fairly healthy which in itself is an amazing achievement.The credits do end things on an upbeat note. I can't wait to see where Fitzgerald goes with his next project!