Drew: The Man Behind the Poster

2013

1h 37m

Documentary

Biography

List

50%

10 Reviews

Tomatometer

71%

250+ Ratings

Audience Score

The life and work of movie poster artist Drew Struzan.

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Peter Debruge

Variety

The Norman Rockwell of movie advertising steps in front of the camera for a long-overdue celebration sure to delight fans and heighten awareness of his legacy.

Aug 16, 2013

Full Review

John DeFore

Hollywood Reporter

Though it will play well with genre diehards on video, the sometimes awkwardly shot doc is too fawning and narrow in scope to attract much of a crowd in theaters.

Aug 16, 2013

Full Review

Andy Webster

New York Times

At length, the cheerleading (capped with fawning fanboys at San Diego Comic-Con) becomes a mildly taxing torrent. And Mr. Struzan, while an agreeable presence, is not an especially engrossing speaker.

Rated: 2.5/5

Aug 15, 2013

Full Review

Anton Bitel

Grolsch Film Works

the documentary is also a sly elegy for a changing Hollywood where real hands-on artistry is being replaced by the rush to digital homogeneity.

Aug 29, 2014

Full Review

Ed Whitfield

The Ooh Tray

A movie that celebrates the work, but at the expense of contemporary John Alvin, who isn't just a glaring omission from the story, but in a couple of instances is actively obliterated from it.

Aug 25, 2014

Full Review

Maitland McDonagh

Film Journal International

This star-studded documentary about poster artist Drew Struzan would never play as fiction: His rags-to-riches journey from poverty to Hollywood acclaim is straight out a '30s movie.

Aug 16, 2013

Full Review

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Simon T

You'll immediately know Drew Struzan's work, even if you think you don't. This modest and supremely gifted maestro of the Hollywood poster is responsible for most of the most memorable designs ever to lure an audience into a picture house. And this slightly haphazard documentary not only belatedly puts him front and centre, it also demonstrates that nice guys don't have to come last. I just wish there could have been footage of Struzan at work.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

09/19/23

Full Review

isla s

This is an insightful documentary about a well regarded film poster artist. It is a little dull in places and is very much a talking heads type of a documentary but I did think it was interesting to see the various posters representing films which were big Hollywood successes. I can see why he's such a popular artist, why people appreciate his work - the images do certainly seem to be quite evocative and appealing. It was interesting to hear about his background and upbringing. If your a fan of big films from the 70s to the 90s then you'll likely find some films you like that he's done posters of, which feature in this film. It is interesting but I did feel there is the, perhaps inevitable, aspect of it whereby certain actors and, maybe moreso, directors are talking about their memories and basically showing off a bit, in a way that didn't especially add much to the film. People being a little smug and brag-gy doesn't appeal too much to me personally. There are some quite interesting parts of this film and seeing the artwork shown, in the way it is, is pretty good, so I would overall recommend it, if your interested in the work of Drew Struzan but don't expect too much in terms of the finer details of his work or over analysis of his personal life. It's an interesting documentary, thought provoking maybe but not especially great.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Fascinating doc about an absolute living legend. Great to hear guys like Lucas and Spielberg say that Drew made them want to live up to his artwork.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/19/23

Full Review

Audience Member

What a fascinating film! This documentary is about Drew Struzan whose artwork I would say is probably among the most seen worldwide. he paints movie posters including: Indian Jones series, Back to the Future trilogy, Star Wars series, Jaws E.T., Bladerunner, The Thing, Police Academy series, The Shawshank Redemption, and many, many more. It's an interesting story of how he got started, the Music Album covers he did, including Alice Cooper's "Welcome to my nightmare", to him getting ripped off, having work stolen and more. The film has some big names singing him praise including: Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Harrison Ford, and Michael J. Fox. Anyone who watched any films in the 80's should watch this, it's amazing just how many posters he did, smaller films or bombs included. Highly recommended!

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/06/23

Full Review

Audience Member

If you don't like this, you don't like movies.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/21/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Inspirational and speaks of a now dying art form. Too much George tho. But Drew is a soft spoken humble man who JUST WANTS TO CREATE AWESOME WORK! lol

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/25/23

Full Review

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Erik Sharkey

Director

Greg Aronowitz

Actor

Timothy Bradstreet

Actor

Joanna Cassidy

Actor

Alice Cooper

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Frank Darabont

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Synopsis

The life and work of movie poster artist Drew Struzan.

Director: Erik Sharkey
Screenwriter: Greg Boas, Charles Ricciardi, Erik Sharkey
Production Co: Torino Pictures, Sharkey Productions, Hefty
Genre: Documentary, Biography
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 20, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA): $3.1K
Runtime: 1h 37m

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