The description of this movie made it look like it was primarily about the discovery of Arnold Schwarzenegger. In fact, Ah-nuld has a relatively minor role, but we do learn a lot about the brothers who supposedly discovered him and made him a star. I say "supposedly" because one wonders in movies like this whether the events really happened. At the end, I did see this was based on real people. But when I came to imdb, people claimed a lot of events didn't really happen. Doesn't matter. It's a good story.
For years, to me Tyler Hoechlin has been Superman as well as the decent but humble Clark Kent. Here, he was a very different character. It is probably correct to say he gave a good performance because he was nothing like what I have seen. Joe showed a lot of determination and courage, but he seemed to have difficulty interacting with other people. For a man with such a well-developed body, he certainly seemed shy and unable to assert himself, except in limited situations. I would even say that today one might describe him as on the autism spectrum. If all of this was intended, then sure, Hoechlin did a great job. But the accent and the way he talked seemed to take away from the story. Maybe he needed to have the accent. After all, when Arnold complains he can't be an actor because of his accent, Joe says he has an accent too. To me, Hoechlin's best scene, though, is the one where he tells his brother his feelings about serving in WWII, where the accent is conveniently forgotten and the powerful voice of Superman is heard.
Robert Forster showed class and dignity as the older man. He seemed more confident than his younger self.
Julianne Hough is quite good as some kind of a celebrity. She is pretty and ends up as Joe's wife and contributes to his business.
Aneurin Barnard is not someone I have ever heard of, and he didn't stand out, but he did his job. He was the man who made things happen behind the scenes, even if we didn't get to see a lot of that. And when we did, he was low-key for the most part.
Tom Arnold is a familiar name to me. I wouldn't say he is a funny character, but he is quite good as a smoking and drinking businessman who can make Joe's career.
Kevin Durand is a cartoon. But he is effective, in his way, as the cruel fictional nemesis magazine publisher. I guess one could say he is Joe's Lex Luthor, but more of a Gene Hackman than a Michael Rosenbaum. Hoechlin recently was introduced to his own Lex, but that one shouldn't even be mentioned here. That Lex is more like a character The Arnold would play.
The nice and pretty first wife for Joe stood out, and I wish she had stayed with him.
As for Arnold himself, Calum Von Moger looked and talked like the man well enough, and he was quite likable. It never occurred to me that even as a competitor, Arnold would have the charm and sense of humor that made people like him as an actor. And yet that was the case here.
Plenty of obstacles stood in the way of the brothers' success, but we know they eventually made things happen, or there would have been no movie.
There is a lot of hate in this movie. Bill in particular is an anti-Semite and a racist and so Joe's boss at a restaurant is anti-Semitic and a homophobe. I don't know that anyone in the movie was gay, but Joe's obsession with male bodies made him look that way to some. But he only married women. Actually, I am guessing about people hating gays because the word was always bleeped.
I think it's worth seeing.
