A suffocating, frustrating and nearly empty experience that leave audiences baffled with its weirdness and mystery rather than feeling intrigued
with what it proposes and criticises, "Manodrome" was certainly one of the most disappointing experiences of the year. But I guess one can deposit much
hopes for a film like this, except for having the usually effective presences of Jesse Eisenberg and Adrien Brody, and even though they do not disappoint,
the script a confusing and lost thing while trying to enlight viewers about the pressures faced by men in the 21st century and how they cope with such
existential problems.
The Eisenberg character is 30/40-ish guy who recently lost his job, now working as an Uber driver, of which he hates it and he's quite erratic while
conducting his business; and he also has a girlfriend (Odessa Young) who is pregnant and somewhat this is a relationship he didn't want to have. The only
fulfillment he has comes through massive exercises at the gym, where he can release some of his fury and anger through training. But he'll get a second
revelation when he's introduced to a guru (Brody) who helps men like Eisenberg to quit what's troubling them and focus on whom they want to be and what
they really want from life. It's those basically self-help teaching like "the power is within you, you just have to believe it and change your way of
thinking".
However, this guru doesn't a book to sell. Instead, his focus comes in making a sort of cult group where men live together, help together, don't have
any contact with women, practically leaving their girlfriends or wives for good. And in this sheltered world, there's a hierarchy of dads and sons with the
more experience you gather. Too bad that the leading man keeps going back and forth while joining them because it'd be interesting to see the dark side of
such group or how positive it actually is in helping them find their path in life. Movies like this tend to built suspense when the whole apparent perfect
world collapses with phony realities and some danger along the way. We didn't get to this bit here.
But on the other hand, as Brody's character fuels more and more trust into Eisenberg, the more the new follower will descent into madness and
dangerous behavior, to the point of aggression, stonewalling the only person who cared for him, or even following his most secret desires. He reaches
that, accomplishes that ultimate inner desire - problem is that we don't get to see if there was any sense of fulfillment, so throughout the whole film
this character is a sufferer of chronic insatisfaction and he'll never feel as if accomplishing things. That famous Thoreau quote about men's lives would
fit in here, except that our main character later on becomes a loud desperation act.
Way too enigmatic with its concerns and situations, very jumpy at parts, "Manodrome" doesn't satisfy us with anything, it just leaves us more
confused and thoughtful into thinking about the secret of a fulfilled life, how to remove the drama from one's reality and find possible satisfying
solutions, or if following the massive internet gurus/self-help experts could be useful or not. The wiser of us in the audience will keep asking those questions, but it's not as saying the movie opened up to this discussion in a philosophic
manner. It was all rubbish, slightly tense and unexpected but hardly rewarding and with some negative messages (with the character, not the group).
For the curious of minds, it's worth seeing Jesse Eisenberg doing something completely different from his routine. He entered some darker inner
corners, with lots of angry and madness. He lets it all out, unlike the usual anxious fast-talkers he plays (it's basically himself, but I don't blame him
at all. I like it). It was quite different to see, showing some range though I hated the character for a great part of the movie. Other than him, there isn't
much that can absorbed from this movie. 4/10.
