Film Review – Mapplethorpe

Co-writer/director Ondi Timoner has a great fascination with artists and rebels, with most of her career devoted to the chronicling of those who seek to disrupt the norm, putting personality and vision before controlled behavior (“Brand: A Second Coming,” “Dig!”). She’s found an ideal subject for “Mapplethorpe,” taking on the enormity of photographer Robert Mapplethorpe’s career, tracking its development and controversies during the 1970s and ‘80s. It’s a storytelling challenge in many ways, but the most pressing concern for Timoner how to find a way to make an unpleasant person interesting for 90 minutes, going beyond noted achievements in art to capture the essence of a man who seemingly lived to hurt others. Mapplethorpe was no prince, and this bio-pic doesn’t probe deep enough into the subject’s point of view, ending up a meandering study of photographic ability with occasional inspections of obsessions and ego. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com