By now I’m sure everyone is familiar with the scandal involving Jonathan Majors and the domestic abuse charges he was accused and found guilty of resulting in the loss of sponsor’s and various recurring roles he signed contracts for. Before all of that controversy, he had three big films released.  Two of them, Creed 3 and Antman: Quantumania, came out in theaters in February and March of 2023. The less heralded third film, Magazine Dreams, was released as part of the Sundance Film Festival that January and bought by Searchlight Pictures. Things were going great! Until they weren’t. Magazine Dreams was sold to Briarcliff Entertainment and is finally about to come out in theaters over two years after it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. It was definitely worth the wait from my point of view.

Killian Maddox (Jonathan Majors) is an amateur regional bodybuilder trying to break into the big time. He lives with his pa pa, grandfather, for those who don’t know the term. He takes care of him when he’s not working at a local grocery store. He has a specific eating and workout regimen to try and build his body to what it needs to be for the national recognition he is seeking or to get on Magazine covers like his idol Brad Vanderhorn, played in the film by Mike O’Hearn, who he sends fan letters to on a regular basis talking about his progress and so forth. He also has an eye for the girl, Jessie (Haley Bennett), who runs the register at the grocery store he works at. There are some underlying problems, though, so he sees a therapist, Patricia Waldron (Hartiet Sandom Harris). This is just the tip of the iceberg of who this man truly is, though. 

In the world of bodybuilding, there is a perchance for using steroids, and using steroids can cause some issues for those who take them. Road rage is a real thing, and it is not very good for those who get it after taking steroids. It can cause an inflated ego, anger issues, and other mental or brain cognitive problems. This movie dictates the problems that  road rage can cause very clearly. The film also focuses on the person and who that man wants to be. If you have a mindset of being great and you should be treated a certain way and things aren’t working out the way you want, roid rage can accentuate pre-existing issues that may have been lying dormant in your mind . That’s the case with the main character in this movie. He believes he should be great, and things aren’t working out that way for him.

The definition of an incel is a member of an online community of young men who consider themselves unable to attract women sexually, typically associated with views that are hostile towards women and men who are sexually active. I think this applies to the main character in this movie. He has issues with relating to women on a personal level without talking about himself. Women want me to ask them about themselves not hearing about a man’s wants and desires as well as career or personal goals.  The one date Majors character has goes south on him because of this. He’s no conscience of what he’s saying or how he’s acting. Also, he looks up on google to make friends and how to make people like him. This is a prime example of an incel. I’ve seen people like this, and it’s not a pretty site.

I first saw Majors in “The Last Black Man in San Francisco” give or take 6 years ago. He blew me away with the emotion he was able to bring to that character. He was able to do that with subsequent roles since then. Specifically, in 2023, all of his roles were amazing, even if the movie itself wasn’t that great. Nothing compares to the character he played in Magazine Dreams, though. He embodied what’s truly like to be a man who is a Lone without nobody to turn to and his entire life going in the toilet. I felt so sorry for this man. In a way, I feel some of his pain due to issues I’ve had in the past connecting with people. It isn’t easy being alone. It doesn’t give anybody the excuse to do violence or kill people because of that, though. That’s wrong! Major is phenomenal in this role! Will he stand the test of time and forgiveness from Hollywood? That’s a big question to ask. If anybody is forgiving of themselves in the Hollywood elite. Has he built up enough credit with them? That’s the biggest question that he should ask if he is going to stand a chance during the awards season of being nominated or winning awards. I think he deserves a second chance.

There were a few moments where I had to say wow in this movie. Those were using quotes to dictate them here “I control my emotions my emotions don’t control me” and  “i’ll split your head open and drink your blood like soup”,. These are two instances where the anger and despair of this man caught with him as a person and just exploded. One involved his pa pa and the other involved one of bodybuilding competitors he was involved in. The character also lies a lot to make himself appear better than he is. Major used these instances to do something different with the character but still showed the disturbing side to him after using steroids. Those were just two of the crazy things he did. These moments were brilliantly directed by Elijah Bynum. He clearly got what he wanted out of this performance from Majors.

There is one scene that is very disturbing that I won’t spoil in this review, but regarding being gullible, not having a world view of things. Being taken advantage of by someone you deem to be superior to you. Trust is always a hard thing to gauge in any instance, let alone a hero figure. I was pretty disgusted by this scene, but at least it didn’t show everything. Once again, Bynum, as writer/director, doesn’t hold back on the graphic nature of the story unless he absolutely has to for ratings purposes. I wanted to turn away, but I didn’t because I wanted to see what would happen next.

Magazine Dreams is the whole package, no pun intended. It gives the audience everything they need to judge this man one way or another. The script and direction from Bynum are exceptionally well done. As of writing this review, this is the best film and performance I’ve seen all year thus far. Here is hoping the people who give this film a chance will see its art and not a depiction of the man who portrays the character. Even though I was convicted of some criminal acts of violence.  It’s hard to tell how this performance would have stood up to the five from two years ago, but I would say it may have had a legitimate chance of getting Majors his first Academy Award nomination. This is the film that people need to see right now, especially men under the age of forty and are alone or living with a parent. They need this mirror to look into and see themselves.

5 stars

Dan Skip Allen