Director: Morgan Spurlock
Year Released: 2012
Rating: 1.0
Spurlock 'investigates' what it means to "be a man" in today's society and ends up spending the bulk of this following around a professional wrestler who needs to shave repeatedly, a "beardsman" named Jack Passion whose obsession with his incredibly long facial hair has to place him in the DSM somewhere and a supreme narcissist who can't get over his nerdy past (and isn't above getting manicures). Though the topic of, for example, gender-appropriate dress and behavior - should a 'man' really be worried about his fingernails? do women given a shit about a man's fingernails? - is curious from a sociological point of view, it proves to be too broad and complex for Spurlock and the sparse 80 minute patchwork he comes up with, and the attempts at humor - coming from Zach Galifianakis, Will Arnett and Jason Bateman - amount to lame filler. Coincidentally, if one wants to read a solid account of the many facets of manhood (and modern dandyism) - entailing proper dress and behavior - I strongly recommend Glenn O'Brien's excellent book How to Be a Man, which mixes in wit and solid advice for the would-be gentleman.
