Mansome (2012)

One of the newer efforts from semi-sterling documentary director Morgan Spurlock, Mansome is certainly one of his lesser efforts, reflected in its universal panning from critics and nearly invisible release. Though the description of the film is about the view of masculinity and possibly how men are perceived in society, it doesn't delve quite deep enough to do anything new or interesting. It touches upon things that are of interest, but overall it's trite and lazy. Instead of really looking into the Adonis factor or exploring the view men have of their place in the world, the film looks at different facets of the male appearance. Sections break this film up, including parts about beards, mustaches, and grooming, which circle each other, overlapping time and again. Celebrities lend their support with interviews on subjects that mostly cover facial hair. Jason Bateman and Will Arnett executive produced and star in this venture, turning up in bit parts throughout to lend their own opinions on these subjects while getting pampered at a spa. This tidbit of film is inane and makes it even more difficult to take anything Spurlock is pitching us, reliable. Though Spurlock has comically covered topics such as product placement, consumerism, and political hubris with ease, here there is little to find funny. Unless you find men being effeminate or rocking a styling do it's really a desert wasteland. The only section of the film that holds any interest is when they veer away from macho beardsmen and focus on a Sikh metrosexual who gets constant cosmetic touchups and cares quite a bit about his appearance. His backstory and choices, which he explains in depth, are the only part of this film that focuses on other men, or men that aren't happy to chime in with dullard opinions on masculinity. Though it's not a perfect film, I did find aspects of it engrossing, especially when Spurlock focuses on these men as a whole, not just what they can make funny for the film.