Review of MANSOME (2012)

- Rated PG-13 for language and some crude material.
- Featuring Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, Zach Galifianakis
- Written by Jeremy Chilnick & Morgan Spurlock
- Directed by Morgan Spurlock
- Running time: 1hr 22min

 I like Morgan Spurlock.  I enjoy his little documentaries, his best being SUPER SIZE ME.  Since then, he's made a small handful of mildly entertaining films (WHERE IN THE WORLD IS OSAMA BIN LADEN?, and THE GREATEST MOVIE EVER SOLD).  His latest, MANSOME is about male grooming.

The film starts off with Jason Bateman and Will Arnett going to a spa as they talk about the importance of taking care of the way they look.  The movie is divided into chapters, with the two actors inserted in at the beginning of each as to sort of introduce the theme.  It covers most aspects of grooming, talking about moustaches, beards, the face, hair, etc.

As a 30-something male who is growing facial hair for the first time in his life, I found some of the insights on beards and moustaches very interesting.  For some people it defines the man, for some it hides who they really are, and for some it just doesn't work.  So far, I think it looks all right on myself, but I'm probably going to shave it soon.  It's too weird for me.  Anyway, many actors, comedians and filmmakers discuss their opinions throughout.  Judd Apatow, Zach Galifinackis, Adam Corola, Scott Ian and that dude from the Old Spice commercials all have interesting points.  Some people just don't get the grooming, others go a little overboard.

There's some funny moments too like a guy who is a serious beard competitor that keeps getting his enormous beard yanked on by passersby as he's being interviewed.  He makes an interesting point though when he compares his beard being pulled by a stranger to a girl getting her boobs groped by random people.  It's disrespectful.  And they also show how far one man will go to make himself look good.  I like to take care of myself, but man, I'm not so bad that I'll look in the mirror for hours at a time.

Morgan Spurlock has made a very slight, not really important documentary, but it is a fun little movie to sit through.  It would be neat to see this with a group of friends and discuss how they feel about male grooming.  The one thing I want to do after watching this movie is to look up the product Fresh Balls.  Yes!  It does exactly what the product is called.  That sounds awesome!

I'm not sure if this is a "big screen experience" movie, but I did enjoy it.  Is it worth going to the theater for?  Well, that depends on how interested in the subject you are.  For me, it was definitely worth a measly 82 minutes of my time.

*** (out of ****)