Rotten
Perhaps in future exposes Roberts will uncover that ice is cold and furnaces hot.
Nathan Rabin, AV Club
America The Beautiful
Is America obsessed with beauty?
2008 · 1h 45m · PG-13
Documentary
Directed by
Darryl Roberts
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America The Beautiful
Overview
In a society where "celebutantes" like Paris Hilton dominate newsstands and models who weigh less than 90 pounds die from malnutrition, female body image is one of the more dire problems facing today's society. "America the Beautiful" illuminates the issue by covering every base. Child models, plastic surgery, celebrity worship, airbrushed advertising, dangerous cosmetics - no rock is left unturned.
Director and cast
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
73%
Tomatometer
Rotten
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.
Jessica Reaves, Chicago Tribune
Fresh
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.
Leba Hertz, San Francisco Chronicle
Rotten
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.
Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times
Fresh
Unexpectedly witty and affecting.
Reece Pendleton, Chicago Reader
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