America The Beautiful (2009)

68% of critics liked it
(31 reviews)
70% of users liked it
(695 ratings)

Looking at the cover of popular fashion magazines and examining the lengths that young girls will go to in order to achieve "perfection," it's easy to see why many people believe that America has developed an unhealthy obsession with beauty. In this documentary, filmmaker Darryl Roberts offers… More Looking at the cover of popular fashion magazines and examining the lengths that young girls will go to in order to achieve "perfection," it's easy to see why many people believe that America has developed an unhealthy obsession with beauty. In this documentary, filmmaker Darryl Roberts offers deeper insight into this observation by speaking with everyone from advertising and fashion professionals to average people on the street in an attempt to discover precisely why some people are willing to put their lives on the line in order to become physically attractive. Gerren Taylor was a lanky 12-year-old girl whose gangly appearance was once an endless source of amusement for her cruel classmates, but over the course of the next two years her most embarrassing features become her greatest assets as she strives to become one of America's next top supermodels. But what drives girls like young Gerrin to seek the attention and admiration of millions? By attempting to peer into the mindsets of such picturesque celebrities of Paris Hilton and Jessica Simpson and picking the brains of some of the top magazine editors, plastic surgeons, and beauty experts in the country -- not to mention divulging the sometimes bizarre ingredients found in popular cosmetics -- Roberts does his best to find out just why we seem to value surface beauty over true substance. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 43 min.
Directed By: Darryl Roberts
Written By: Darryl Roberts
Genres: Documentary, Special Interest

In Theaters: Aug 22, 2008 Limited
On DVD: Dec 1, 2009
Studio: First Independent Pictures

Critic Reviews

Jessica Reaves, Chicago Tribune
Despite the occasional flash of insight, and a few semi-shocking factoids, most women are going to find this movie roughly as illuminating as a remedial math class might be for a Nobel-prize winning physicist.
Leba Hertz, San Francisco Chronicle
In the documentary America the Beautiful, Roberts explores the cult of beauty in the United States and mostly succeeds in unmasking the flaws of fetishizing skin-deep beauty.
Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times
With so many pointless detours ripping you away, the film feels as lamely digressive as the proverbial one-track guy whose head won't stop turning as each new temptation walks by.
Reece Pendleton, Chicago Reader
Unexpectedly witty and affecting.
V.A. Musetto, New York Post
Interesting but messy.
Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News
Though not the most sophisticated movie, Darryl Roberts' earnest documentary gets its points across with enough power to make it a valuable experience for both adolescent girls and their parents.
Melissa Camacho, Common Sense Media
Probing docu about society's obsession with looks.
Kam Williams, Sly Fox
Scathing documentary indicts fashion industry for America's unhealthy obsession with beauty.
Jennifer Merin, About.com
America's obsession with beauty is the subject of filmmaker Darryl Roberts wide-ranging investigative documentary that shows how beauty product manufacturers manipulate the public.
Peter Canavese, Groucho Reviews
The film's examination of our beauty-obsessed culture--however familiar--remains unfortunately necessary.
Kathy Flanigan, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
[Director] Roberts has a point of view, yes, but he also has a curiosity that drives him and the movie. Lucky are those who go along for the ride.
Nathan Rabin, AV Club
Perhaps in future exposes Roberts will uncover that ice is cold and furnaces hot.
Andrea Chase, Killer Movie Reviews
trenchant but not mean-spirited and often hilarious. Roberts approaches the subject with an attitude that is genuinely inquisitive, often bemused, and sometimes shocked, but never judgmental, at least not in his interviewing style
Jules Brenner, Cinema Signals
Intercutting the costs of American women's chase-after-beauty story (suggesting much waste and futility) with Gerren's personal one never quite blends into an organic whole.
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
Roberts raises interesting questions, but most of the info is familiar and there's no systematic or comparative perspective to illuminate our culture's obssession with beauty vis-a-vis other wealthy media-saturated countries, which made Sicko a good docu
Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times
America the Beautiful provides plenty of food for thought, and Roberts' passion for the subject shines through.
Bill White, Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Unlike other documentarians who put themselves in front of the camera, Roberts is an affable screen presence.
John P. McCarthy, Boxoffice Magazine
Well intentioned but futilely diffuse.
Nick Schager, Cinematical
For every unsubtle moment ... there are two or three that forcefully resound.