When I was a kid growing up and got into weight training, Weider's name was everywhere, and it still is. The film does a good job of painting Weider's formative years, but once it gets into the actual nitty-gritty of showing how the IFBB grew, the inaccuracies grow by leaps and bounds. As an example, the IFBB was founded in 1946, not 1951. Arnold, when he came to the US, barely spoke English, and even then, his accent was incredibly thick. (It still is, but he speaks English far better now).
My biggest quibble is with the acting and the script...both aren't great. Julianne Hough is pretty and does okay as Betty Brosmer (Weider), but as for the others...Tyler Hoechlin tries hard, but he fails to get that rather nasal intonation the real Joe Weider had. Kevin Durand is a decent actor, but here, he's just a foamin'-at-the-mouth rabid anti-Semite, and his character shows zero depth. Same for the rest of the cast, although I give Calum von Moger (Arnold S) credit for trying.
The inaccuracies--as mentioned before as well as by other commenters--continue with a lot of the movie glossing over the real way Weider and his brother worked. It was a cutthroat business, but the film fails to show how Weider managed to screw over other bodybuilders when it came to contracts and paying residuals for photo shoots. It does nothing to address the problem of steroids or the various legal scandals Weider went through. In short, it's a one-sided, rose-colored love song to the vast and, IMO, very flawed Weider empire.
My biggest quibble is with the acting and the script...both aren't great. Julianne Hough is pretty and does okay as Betty Brosmer (Weider), but as for the others...Tyler Hoechlin tries hard, but he fails to get that rather nasal intonation the real Joe Weider had. Kevin Durand is a decent actor, but here, he's just a foamin'-at-the-mouth rabid anti-Semite, and his character shows zero depth. Same for the rest of the cast, although I give Calum von Moger (Arnold S) credit for trying.
The inaccuracies--as mentioned before as well as by other commenters--continue with a lot of the movie glossing over the real way Weider and his brother worked. It was a cutthroat business, but the film fails to show how Weider managed to screw over other bodybuilders when it came to contracts and paying residuals for photo shoots. It does nothing to address the problem of steroids or the various legal scandals Weider went through. In short, it's a one-sided, rose-colored love song to the vast and, IMO, very flawed Weider empire.