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IMDbPro

Bigger

  • 2018
  • PG-13
  • 1h 47m
IMDb RATING
6.4/10
3.2K
YOUR RATING
Kevin Durand, Tyler Hoechlin, Julianne Hough, Aneurin Barnard, and Calum Von Moger in Bigger (2018)
Watch Official Trailer
Play trailer1:26
1 Video
50 Photos
BiographyDramaSport

The inspirational tale of the grandfathers of fitness as we now know it, Joe and Ben Weider. Facing anti-Semitism and extreme poverty, the brothers beat all odds to build an empire and inspi... Read allThe inspirational tale of the grandfathers of fitness as we now know it, Joe and Ben Weider. Facing anti-Semitism and extreme poverty, the brothers beat all odds to build an empire and inspire future generations.The inspirational tale of the grandfathers of fitness as we now know it, Joe and Ben Weider. Facing anti-Semitism and extreme poverty, the brothers beat all odds to build an empire and inspire future generations.

  • Director
    • George Gallo
  • Writers
    • Andy Weiss
    • George Gallo
    • Brad Furman
  • Stars
    • Kevin Durand
    • Tyler Hoechlin
    • DJ Qualls
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.4/10
    3.2K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • George Gallo
    • Writers
      • Andy Weiss
      • George Gallo
      • Brad Furman
    • Stars
      • Kevin Durand
      • Tyler Hoechlin
      • DJ Qualls
    • 47User reviews
    • 14Critic reviews
    • 37Metascore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Videos1

    Official Trailer
    Trailer 1:26
    Official Trailer

    Photos49

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    + 46
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    Top cast65

    Edit
    Kevin Durand
    Kevin Durand
    • Bill Hauk
    Tyler Hoechlin
    Tyler Hoechlin
    • Joe Weider
    DJ Qualls
    DJ Qualls
    • Michael Steere
    Victoria Justice
    Victoria Justice
    • Kathy Weider
    Robert Forster
    Robert Forster
    • Joe 2008
    Julianne Hough
    Julianne Hough
    • Betty Weider
    Max Martini
    Max Martini
    • Jerry George
    Steve Guttenberg
    Steve Guttenberg
    • Louis Weider
    Aneurin Barnard
    Aneurin Barnard
    • Ben Weider
    Tom Arnold
    Tom Arnold
    • Roy Hawkins
    Colton Haynes
    Colton Haynes
    • Jack Lalanne
    Nadine Lewington
    Nadine Lewington
    • Anna Wieder
    Jason Burkey
    Jason Burkey
    • John Corbine
    Ben Gavin
    Ben Gavin
    • Bronson Guy
    Bob Rumnock
    Bob Rumnock
    • Doctor
    Christian Finlayson
    Christian Finlayson
    • Young Joe Weider
    Hunter Clowdus
    Hunter Clowdus
    • Fitness Guy
    David de Vries
    David de Vries
    • Mr. Young
    • Director
      • George Gallo
    • Writers
      • Andy Weiss
      • George Gallo
      • Brad Furman
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews47

    6.43.2K
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    Featured reviews

    5denny321

    A nice propaganda piece for the Weider Empire

    As a biography, Bigger hearkens back to the days when Hollywood biopics cranked out knights in shining armor using whatever mixture of fact and fiction they thought would fill the seats and send everybody home happy. Joe Weider is a presented as a blemish-free altruist who only wants to help the world become a fitter place; various inconvenient aspects of Joe's private and professional lives - including the timing of his two marriages and the existence of his daughter, legal difficulties stemming from highly exaggerated claims of his products' effectiveness, questionable treatment of business partners, and strong presence in the gay-oriented "beefcake magazine" market of the 1950s and early 60s with titles like Adonis and Body Beautiful - are either glossed over or ignored completely. Meanwhile, the villainous foil "Bill Hauk", officially claimed to be a composite of several real-life characters but pretty clearly a representation of U.S. Olympic weightlifting coach and rival muscle mag publisher Bob Hoffman, is a cartoonishly evil, racist, anti-Semitic, homophobic, violent thug. Exec produced by nephew Eric Weider, the film plays like the Weider Empire's bid for Joe's sainthood.

    Historical inaccuracies and omissions aside, as a movie it just isn't very satisfying. The years flip by so quickly it's difficult to build up much momentum, and we're often left wondering exactly how last year's big dilemma played out. Tyler Hoechlin as Joe does a capable job mimicking Weider's distinctive Polish/Yiddish/Quebecois accent but tacks on an awkwardly stilted manner of speech; oddly, both of these are absent in the always-classy Robert Forster's portrayal of Joe as an old man. The labored delivery combined with Joe's single-minded obsession with fitness makes him appear to be a sort of Rain Man of bodybuilding, and only succeeds in distancing the audience from the character. Repeated anti-Semitic attacks and accusations of homosexuality fail to build the viewer's sympathy after the first few instances, with a mounting array of epithets not heard for a while in a non-Tarentino movie.

    The film tries hard to present Joe Weider's life story as a classic David-versus-Goliath struggle. But given the ending we already know, it's pretty clear that this David's goal all along was to become an even bigger Goliath.
    6umeshfan

    It's ok. Go for it if ur fan of bodybuilding

    Pretty bad writing and pacing. Pretty dry movie. Great acting by the actors tho. Except Calum, he straight up sucked.
    5kjjames81

    A straight okay film.

    Now I know about the sport of bodybuilding as I have trained in gyms in and off since the eighties and used to buy the Weider magazines.

    So I was looking forward to this film to see old time bodybuilders. The film had a few in there but nothing as I thought there would be.

    So the film itself was good but nothing special, I felt it played it safe, nothing controversial in it. I was waiting for a strong punchline, something that would say it was in the Raging Bull side of movies not Driving Miss Daisy side of films, it sided with the latter.

    So I enjoyed but left disappointed with it.

    Overall a good film but nothing special with it.
    7carnagecarney

    Great film for exactly what it is....

    BIGGER is essentially the video biography of the grandfather of bodybuilding/nutrition, Joe Weider.

    Perhaps best known for his weights (WEIDER across a set of plates or barbells at your local gym), Joe and his brother Ben arguably brought bodybuilding and the need for balanced nutrition to the forefront of western culture, some 60 years ago. The billion dollar market that exists today, is based on the template that Weider created with his magazines, equipment, pro competitions and the creation of the IFBB.

    The film portrayal is loyal to his life, vision and clearly conveys the passion Joe obviously felt from a very young age without any outside influence in being drawn to the sport of bodybuilding (before he had it recognized as a sport).

    To me, the firl was very entertaining beginning to end; some of the acting was a little wooden at times and downright awful at others (Calum Von Moger, looking at you) but it can be forgiven for these moments, since the goal of showing Arnold in his prime at a competition were achieved/believable, which obviously outweighed the requirement to have him be a good actor to boot. With that said, I really hope Calum pursues acting (after some good lessons) because it would be a lot of fun to see him throw people around in roles like Arnie used to do, coupled with memorable one-liners ( "Crush ya' enemies, see dem driven befo' you...")

    All in all, a great movie which I recommend checking out. Solid 3.5 out of 5 stars.
    6aka_riley

    BB Fan I wanted this to be amazing.

    Huge bb fan and in the industry so I was excited for this movie. Just felt like there was no crescendo. Interesting story however accurate it actually is. Would have been fun to see more of the Arnold/frank/Sergio competition. It was just a blip in the movie. I know it's about Weider but still that time was defined by the Oak.

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    Related interests

    Ben Kingsley, Rohini Hattangadi, and Geraldine James in Gandhi (1982)
    Biography
    Mahershala Ali and Alex R. Hibbert in Moonlight (2016)
    Drama
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    Sport

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Bill Hauk is not a real person but a composite character representing the variety of adversaries Weider faced in building his fitness empire.
    • Goofs
      Stock footage of Times Square cites the year as 1970. But a theatre marquee shows "The Possession of Joel Delaney" playing -- it was released in 1972.
    • Quotes

      Joe Weider: What you do not realize is all these men want is to compete against the very best.

    • Soundtracks
      Baby Count Ten (The Waiting Song)
      Written by Cynthia Strother and Raymond Keith Saar

      Performed by The Bell Sisters

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    FAQ17

    • How long is Bigger?Powered by Alexa

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • October 12, 2018 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Містер Олімпія
    • Filming locations
      • Birmingham, Alabama, USA
    • Production companies
      • 13 Films
      • Bee Holder Productions
      • Red Sky Studios
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $46,382
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $31,477
      • Oct 14, 2018
    • Gross worldwide
      • $49,997
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 47m(107 min)
    • Color
      • Color

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