Directed By Muta’Ali Muhammad

Starring – Stacy Spikes, Mitch Lowe, Hamat Watt

The Plot – Exploring the company founding and the implosion of the business by outside investors who took over the company, left it bankrupt and under investigation.

This film is currently not rated

MoviePass, MovieCrash | Official Trailer | HBO (youtube.com)

POSITIVES

If a book on the history of cinema was ever finalized, an extensive chapter would be dedicated to MoviePass’ effect on the industry, and specifically how the idea of improving theatrical attendance came at the cost of alienating an entire audience demographic. Such is elaborated on in tremendous detail throughout Muta’Ali Muhammad’s insightful documentary, which not only refuses to pull punches on deconstructing the shady practices of its brain trust, but also conveys the bigger picture with regards to its lasting impact on an ever-changing industry, with five million customers serving as the peak of its proverbial powers. Muhammad stimulates effectively as both a thematic storyteller, with a collective variety of speaking guests in and out of the company that vividly renders this epically tragic indulgence of power, but also a gripping visual artist in the flare of many animated illustrations corresponding with the specifics of the constant overhead narration. It proves that time, money and especially effort were utilized to further flesh out a personality and appeal to a company so frequently defined by manipulation, with the many dimensions of its versatile story occasionally shifting to gain a greater sense of reality within two black founders who were eventually overtaken by a board of white male constituents. Muhammad responsibly never uses labels like “Racists” or “Racism” to fuel this unsettling aspect, instead allowing the turbulent relationship and evidential differences between respective sides to conjure an unsettling reality to the interpretation of the audience, all the while keeping the unforgiving realities and tenderness of their model in reachable distance, with its own abundance of problems to constantly imbed a palpable urgency in the company’s race against the clock to burn less money. As a result, Muhammad uncovers the many attributes of systematic racism in an entrepreneurial environment, casting emphasis in why so many minority owned businesses never attain collateral support, but beyond that constructing a searing untouched illustration about 21st century capitalism that never fails to echo the realities of prejudicial bias. This makes the documentary an especially gripping engagement for those unfamiliar with MoviePass, especially for the way it effortlessly elaborates on business terminology in methods that are easily accessible, but even for an experienced veteran like me, who has had and still has a MoviePass membership to this day, fill in the gaps of many details and aspects within the company and its unfortunate employees that I simply wasn’t privy to, in turn helping to gain a greater knowledge on the internal wars that were happening in real time, with both sides of the story orchestrating the reality of truth that constantly hangs somewhere in the middle. The most valuable of guests certainly feels like Spikes, who is likeable enough as the founder done wrong, but also the one most grounded in reality, who constantly approached matters feasibly, while others approached them impatiently, all in the objective of disrupting the status quo and making MoviePass somehow profitable with a deal that even still feels too good to be true. The talking points are carefully balanced between perspective, while relaxed on the editing, which makes their answers come across as genuine in real time, without the film aggressively painting them as such, and while the many talking points are compartmentalized into sections based on the conventional structure for years as a framing device, the delves do allow ample time inside of each section of the story, making the 90 minute run time transpire as smoothly and seamlessly as possible. In addition, the limitless archival visuals of both classic movie scenes and theater footage from the past decade enriches the experience with a big screen appeal, especially in the immersive essence of establishing such a unique place in time that corresponds throughout much of the story. As to where the former vividly paints memories into the psyche of its many speaking guests, and the latter gives us an unfiltered look into the surroundings of this lone office suite, the real reward comes from the accessibility of these various press junkets and MoviePass parties, where the greedy indulgences of a few excessively spending results in debauchery and irresponsibility that burned their lifespan at both ends. From Dennis Rodman as a company ambassador, to MoviePass Airlines, to their producing of the awful 2018 biopic film ‘Gotti’, MoviePass simply couldn’t say no to a bad idea, using customer trust to fuel their own exotic retreats, which only further paints the internal disconnect with those patrons that make it a difficult sell, even in its current model today. Lastly, ‘MoviePass, Movie Crash’ is a roller-coaster of emotions, as previously alluded to with the extent of the material, leading to a rich evolution in tonal capacity that feel appropriate for the many sides of its cautionary tale. The highlight of these, for my money, is easily during the year long investigation from the FBI, eliciting a corrosive tension to the defined atmosphere that re-evaluates the stakes during the climactic third act, but beyond that many fascinating theories about Farnsworth and Lowe’s ulterior motives towards supposedly saving the company, allowing audiences to absorb many speculative conversations to go with the abundance of truths that the film unabashedly unlocks.

NEGATIVES

Though Muhammad elicits a detailed approach in his telling of this American model of greed, some stones of truth and even logic are left unturned, leaving many truthful aspects about the characters and their impact free from the film’s clutches. Most of my issues pertain to the film’s final few beats, as not only does it dramatically underscore the lasting impact of MoviePass inspiring many theaters into adopting their own subscription based models, an opportunity to throw hypocrisy in the face of AMC, but it also conveniently leaves out some unsettling truths about the current model of MoviePass, now run by Spikes, which are manipulative to say the least. As a card carrying member currently, MoviePass has frequently upped the cost of their credits-for-cost model without warning, which limits the opportunity that people can see whatever they want, whenever they want. While I can certainly understand that this film may have been finished long before it could realize these unfortunate aspects, the corresponding narrative to Spikes being the truthful savior to this company requires convenience wherever the movie can find it, in turn leaving it a documentary that carries around 90% of the truths that it requires to convey the magnitude of the complete story. This unfulfilling element follows over to the assortment of assembled guests, which are ample in variety, but nowhere near complete to cover the magnitude of the opportunity. While people like Farnsworth and MoviePass executive Khalid Itum are understandably missing, as they’re both facing ongoing legalities that keep them from speaking on the matter, the absence of Bob Ellis, Farnsworth’s confidant who was removed for inappropriate behavior, and Adam Aron, AMC’s CEO, who introduced their own subscription based service “A-List”, are unfortunately felt, creating missed opportunities among many talking points pertaining to them that leave them to fall to speculative waters, instead of visualizing a far more detailed portrait of reality. Ellis particularly would’ve supplanted a far greater relevance to daily operations that would’ve enhanced the film’s section about inner-office realities, and while it may have served as Muhammad’s decision to omit as many controversial figures from the engagement as possible, it would’ve been more impressively complete to mold all of the meaningful pieces together, resulting in a more thoroughly elaborate discussion from all of those who lived it.

OVERALL
‘MoviePass, Movie Crash’ is the first of many inevitable films about the colossal disaster of the world’s first cinematic subscription-based service, and one aided tremendously by Muhammad’s expressive execution and thorough dissection on the many layers of subconscious racism enacted by its corporate takeover. Though flawed by limited speaking guests and glossed-over realities with where the subscription service stands today, the documentary is nevertheless an endearing cautionary tale about the poisons that corporate greed and mismanagement can play on one promising venture, and one whose impact can still be felt, even if it failed to overhaul the industry.

My Grade: 8/10 or B+