Agripping documentary about performance-enhancing drugs, "Bigger, Stronger, Faster*" has everything going for it: Some of the year's best reviews, a highly topical subject, a film festival pedigree and winsome filmmakers willing to tour the country to drum up interest.
There's only one thing missing: moviegoers.
Critically acclaimed films about provocative subjects struggle to make money all the time, but rarely have so many lauded documentaries consistently failed to connect at the box office. The recent nonfiction returns have been so bleak that several distributors are growing wary about taking on such highbrow works, an alarming development in a pop culture universe already dominated by "American Idol," James Frey and US Weekly.
"It's unlike anything I've seen before," says Michael Barker, whose Sony Pictures Classics has released the documentary duds "Standard Operating Procedure," "Jimmy Carter: Man From Plains" and "My Kid Could Paint That," none of which grossed more than $250,000 theatrically. "Unless you have movie stars like Michael Moore or Al Gore associated with your film, you can't sell tickets."
In addition to Magnolia Pictures' "Bigger, Stronger, Faster*," which arrived in theaters three weeks ago but has grossed only $164,000, the recent beleaguered documentaries include Fox Searchlight's "Young@Heart" and Magnolia's "Surfwise." The winner of this year's feature documentary Academy Award, ThinkFilm's "Taxi to the Dark Side," grossed just $275,000.
"It's been brutal," Alex Buono, a producer on "Bigger, Stronger, Faster*," says of trying to coax moviegoers into theaters. "We spent three years making this film, and [releasing it] is just an extension of that uphill battle."
Distributors offer a number of explanations behind the drop in documentary attendance:
"Standard Operating Procedure" and "Taxi to the Dark Side" focus on war and torture, topics that have been a deadly curse for numerous dramas, including "Lions for Lambs," "Stop-Loss" and "Rendition."
Wall-to-wall coverage of the political campaigns may have left moviegoers desperate for mind-numbing getaways. In that view, "The Incredible Hulk" is far more attractive than the challenging "Surfwise," a look at an unusual family wandering around in a camper.
Audiences that used to embrace contentious films have grown tired of them. "I used to die to have my movies be controversial," says Magnolia's Eamonn Bowles. "Now I don't want my movies to be controversial."
