Movie Review - Mapplethorpe

Director and co-writer Ondi Timoner lays out the facts of Robert Mapplethorpe's life. Mapplethorpe was a gay photographer who took provocative and pornographic, black-and-white pictures. He was a very brazen, bold and even bitchy guy who did what he did after awhile with no apology and no concern of what people thought of him. This could just be a portrait of a pure artist, even with his peccadilloes. It could also be a portrait of a man who once he became free and certainly once he found his niche, he didn't hold back and truly was the man he wanted to be regardless of people liked it or not, even members of his own family.

Artists seem to admire or respect this idea of an artist against the world and expressing himself no matter if it makes him a jerk or reviled. Timoner walks us through his life and shows us this realization or depiction of him, but other than the realization or depiction itself, there's not much more of a hook to this narrative. If you've seen other films about gay artists of this time period, whether it's more mainstream fare like Rocketman (2019) or Bohemian Rhapsody (2018) or whether it's more independent, queer cinema like The Circle (2014) and Tom of Finland (2017), then nothing here will feel that much compelling.

Even if you haven't any of those films, there's not much stuff that's compelling here anyway. In other words, the drama is lacking. There's hardly any tension or conflict. There are hints of those things, but Timoner's script doesn't ever raise the stakes or pose many consequences that make this narrative interesting. It seems as if Timoner is rushing through this guy's life, even though it was a short one, having died only at the age of 42 of HIV and AIDS. Timoner seems more concerned with getting to the end of his life rather than focusing on a hook or some specific drama of his life that would have made this film less boring. There's potential here, but it gets overlooked.

Matt Smith (The Crown and Doctor Who) stars as Robert Mapplethorpe, the gay artist in New York City who makes pornographic, black-and-white photographs. The film starts in 1969 and depicts the last 20 years of his life, obviously skipping over large chunks as it does so. It starts off with his relationship with Patti Smith, a woman with whom he lived. Obviously, this relationship doesn't last, given his preference is men. Exploring Robert and Patti's dynamic, what attracted them and what draws him away could have been a whole film in itself, but this film skips over it. The film does provide moments for the actor to portray this man's pull or tug-of-war regarding his sexuality but it's not enough for it to really register.

The majority of this film is about Robert doing his art. He takes pornographic pictures. He entered into the underground leather scene, which includes gay men engaging in BDSM, while wearing various leather paraphernalia. The reason it's underground is because it either wants or needs to be hidden away, but the film portrays Robert as having no trouble going into this world and getting men to be his subjects. The scene that introduces it basically has Robert walk into a room where a bunch of men are having sex and he whips out his camera with no objections. There's no drama or tension there. He just gets away with it.

Brandon Sklenar co-stars as Edward Mapplethorpe, the younger brother to Robert. He comes to work for Robert as an assistant. Here is where the film builds the most drama and tension. The two brothers seem to have a good and accepting dynamic. However, a rivalry or competition develops between the two. It's possibly based on jealousy or a need for power, especially on Robert's part. It leads to a great scene in which the two argue, but there's no follow-up. There's no real payoff to this dynamic. Again, Timoner just rushes to the end where Robert gets sick and dies. It's a missed opportunity for something solid for this movie to have pushed.

McKinley Belcher III (Ozark and The Passage) plays Milton Moore, a random black guy whom Robert picks up on the street. In the film, Robert is able to easily convince Milton to become a model in which Milton shows his penis. The scene is very quick and the drama or tension of trying to get a man as nervous and socially awkward as Milton to be a nude model is overlooked. Besides getting no backstory on Milton, I can forgive it because it leads to something interesting.

The way that Robert sexualizes or fetishizes Milton is a form of racism, which Milton calls out, but the film never addresses it again. Later, we see Robert pick up another black guy, played by David J. Cork (The Breeding). It suggests that Robert has some kind of racial bias or racial motivation, which is never brought up again or reconciled. It's just brought up without ever being examined, which the filmmakers thought was probably necessary, given that it's an aspect of a recent HBO documentary on Mapplethorpe, but without examination it's more frustrating than insightful.

Not Rated but contains full-frontal male nudity and language.
Running Time: 1 hr. and 42 mins.

Available on Hulu.