Mapplethorpe

While I had heard of Robert Mapplethorpe as a photographer of raw & sexual pictures; I knew nothing of his background. This movie filled in some of that. I was drawn into story by the strong performance of Matt Smith, who I only knew of from The Crown. He played the part excellently. He was Mapplethorpe to me as I watched. My other draw was John Benjamin-Hickey, whose work I've long admired. I'd seen him on Broadway in two shows, and met him after one. Always a strong performer. I like that the story moved quickly from Mapplethorpe's struggling artist days to the heights, then the lows, of fame, and eventual death. It is a movie that kept my interest throughout, so for that I gave it 8 stars!

After its end, not the short and impressive, provocative and admirable career of Robert Mapplethorpe remains in memory but the splendid performance of Matt Smith. A sensitive hommage, a trip across delicate subjects, a defining of art and a great and powerful message. Something more than a biographic film.

I am not really aware of famous or otherwise known photographers to be honest. No matter their main focus when it comes to pictures (no pun intended). So while the poster is quite clear (which rhymes with something that you can consider a pun), wait til you watch the movie ... and don't if you are easily offended or squeamish - there are quite the explicit pictures in this. Matt Smith in the title role is as good as it gets. I can imagine James Franco in this too (allegedly he was supposed to play the role), but it's probably better this way. So the movie does not rely on shock value alone, but if you thought Brokeback Mountain went too far, you ain't seen nothing yet ... still this is a really good biopic - at least for someone like me who does not know much about the real person.

If you're interested in Maplethorpe, there's nothing here, and if you know nothing about him, you still won't find anything. Like every bad bio-pic "Do you know (insert famous name here)?"

Casting Matt Smith in the lead was a mistake, he lacks a certain Je ne sais quoi. I don't know what to make of Mapplethorpe honestly, would he be otherwise if he'd survived? We'll never know.

Matt Smith is woefully miscast as Mapplethorpe, but the story and the dialogue don't do him any favours. This is not the Mapplethorpe of "Just Kids" or any interview that I have read. The production seems scared of itself and really brushes over sensitive subjects rather than take them on headlong. Mapplethorpe's story deserves a better telling than this.

This movie was a horrible representation of a beautiful artist. Unlike Mapplethorpe's art, this film lacked focus, beauty, depth and anything that resembled the complicated, talented artist. It didn't even try to get below the surface and examine him as a person or an artist. Such a waste, I think the actors had the capability to make it great, but the writing and directing didn't support them at all.