Manodrome

Manodrome is an entertaining take on the toxic masculinity. Jesse Eisenberg alongside Adrien Brody and Odessa Young deliver stellar performances, though, the movie takes so many wild turns by the end, it loses some credibility and could even make you laugh, like it did for me.

The idea was there, and the direction was also promising. For the first half of the movie, I could feel what Ralphie, the main character, was going through. The frustration was crystal clear, and Jesse fantastically portrayed a person trying to handle it by himself. Yet, at one point, the density of dramatic scenes and explosive, reckless actions taken by him turned out to just be too much.

Although I must say, while Manodrome didn't exactly work for me, it kept me engaged until the end, thanks to a stellar mix of great acting, music, and cold, almost raw shots.

On top of that, it's a movie that provoked the most different reactions to it. I experienced it at a movie festival in Wroclaw, and during the whole event, no other film sparked so many different opinions. That is why, even though I felt it was decent personally, I think it should be seen if you have the chance.

There were times when they used to produce movies like Fight Club.

Now they spend $24m to waste our time with some nonsense script.

It's not the first time for Oscar nominee Jesse Eisenberg to play an unlikeable, confused, and soulless person, but what happened to Adrien Brody? Didn't he win an Oscar for the Pianist, at least that was 20 years ago ... I guess some actors don't read their scripts anymore before accepting their $400k roles.

I usually watch the movies to the end to make up my mind but had to stop watching this one after 30 minutes since I could not relate to any of the characters in this movie.

Manodrome is a wild ride where we follow the subtlies of a quiet "average" man who meets the wrong people at the right time causing a pressure cooker situation. People saying the film was null of meaning may need some self reflection, the movie clearly nods at what is to come early on and the leads erratic behaviour shows how the pressure guides his choices. The film is the sad, violent and lonely story of a man who because of his upbringing was never able to express himself and now he's invited to open up and influenced into taking matters into his own hands, but his emotions have boiled over in ways he cannot understand nor control before it's too late.

In dark dramatic thriller "Manodrome" troubled East-Coast blue-collar gym-rat Jesse Eisenberg (excllent - and ripped, as never seen before) struggles to cope mentally & financially with losing his job while girlfriend Odessa Young is nine months pregnant - and his psychological state sure ain't calmed by falling in with Adrien Brody's mysoginistic cult (with the likes of Ethan Suplee) that sparks him into rapidly spiralling volatility & violence. In his first US film, South African writer/director John Trengove packs a raw punch, with originality (while drawing inspiration from great movies like "Taxi Driver" & "Fight Club"). It'll not be for all, but is well worth seeing.

John Trengrove's "Manodrome" is an incel-era update of "Fight Club," a story of an average guy whose inner demons are unleashed when he meets a group of men trying to reclaim their perceived place in the world. "Manodrome" weaves modern themes like the emergence of toxic incels across the internet into a tale of a loner who becomes emboldened by the wrong people, echoing "Taxi Driver" as much as the Chuck Palahniuk classic but failing to tie any of its hot-button issues into a coherent statement or character study. It's a hollow provocation with about as much to say about the human condition as an internet troll who learned a few buzzwords this morning and wants to spew them at somebody to feel superior. The cast gives their all, but the film ultimately has nothing to offer.