West of Greatness: The Story of the Westwego Muscle Boys

Jun 20, 2025

1h 50m

★ 0.0

A film about dreams, desperation, & bodybuilding

Overview

In a fading Louisiana town, Jerome dreams of Hollywood while Terry seeks escape from a troubled home. United by desperation, they train for a high-stakes bodybuilding competition that becomes their shot at something more. Filmed over 18 months, WEST OF GREATNESS blazes a bold new trail in cinematic storytelling, blending raw documentary with scripted drama. It's a haunting, human story of ambition, survival, and the quiet bond that forms when there's nothing left to lose.

Genres

Drama

Production Companies

Something Human

Staunch Character Films

West of Greatness: The Story of the Westwego Muscle Boys Trailers

Cast

Carole Ann

Elise Adams

Guy Bridgeway

John Zimmermann

Jessica Priscilla Bridgeway

Gordy Cassel

Stevie Baudier

Stevie Cavalier

Leslie

Catalina Cielo

Alfred

Fred Davis

Cassius Carmichael

Lamont Douglas

Eli Wilder

James Goodreau

Muscle Man #1

Gregory Hobson

Joseph

Shelby Howes

Jerome Bettis Carmichael

LaEric Moore

Clerk

Kaleb Naquin

County Durham, England, 1984. The miners' strike has started and the police have started coming up from Bethnal Green, starting a class war with the lower classes suffering. Caught in the middle of the conflict is 11-year old Billy Elliot, who, after leaving his boxing club for the day, stumbles upon a ballet class and finds out that he's naturally talented. He practices with his teacher Mrs. Wilkinson for an upcoming audition in Newcastle-upon Tyne for the royal Ballet school in London.

7.3

Dirty Dancing

Aug 21, 1987

Expecting the usual tedium that accompanies a summer in the Catskills with her family, 17-year-old Frances 'Baby' Houseman is surprised to find herself stepping into the shoes of a professional hoofer—and unexpectedly falling in love.

6.4

Italian for Beginners

Dec 7, 2000

Several lonely hearts in a semi-provincial suburb of a town in Denmark use a beginner's course in Italian as the platform to meet the romance of their lives. The film, which unspools the connections and family drama shared between the students, complies with several aesthetic principles of Dogme 95 movement.

7.4

Bad Education

Mar 19, 2004

When an old friend brings filmmaker Enrique Goded a semi-autobiographical script chronicling their adolescence, Enrique is forced to relive his youth spent at a Catholic boarding school.

7.7

All Quiet on the Western Front

Apr 29, 1930

When a group of idealistic young men join the German Army during the Great War, they are assigned to the Western Front, where their patriotism is destroyed by the harsh realities of combat.

7.5

Breaking the Waves

Jul 5, 1996

In a small, conservative Scottish village, an oilman is paralyzed in an accident. His wife, who prayed for his return, feels guilty; even more, when he urges her to have sex with another.

8.0

The 400 Blows

Jun 3, 1959

For young Parisian boy Antoine Doinel, life is one difficult situation after another. Surrounded by inconsiderate adults, including his neglectful parents, Antoine spends his days with his best friend, Rene, trying to plan for a better life. When one of their schemes goes awry, Antoine ends up in trouble with the law, leading to even more conflicts with unsympathetic authority figures.

5.6

Alice, Darling

Dec 30, 2022

Pushed to the breaking point by Simon, her psychologically abusive boyfriend, Alice becomes an unwitting participant in an intervention staged by her two closest friends while on vacation. As she rediscovers the essence of herself and gains some much-needed perspective, she slowly starts to fray the cords of codependency that bind her. However, Simon's vengeance is as inevitable as it is shattering, and once unleashed, it tests her strength, her courage, and the bonds of deep-rooted friendships.

6.0

Wind Over the City

Nov 16, 1996

In a small, poor town, a young worker falls in love with an actress from a traveling theater troupe and tries to keep her close, dreaming and working hard to rebuild a new town while the troupe increasingly faces decline and the end of its run.

4.7

Wasted

Mar 17, 2002

A high-school track star (Nick Stahl) watches without judgment as his two best friends (Summer Phoenix, Aaron Paul) abuse heroin.

7.7

Knockin' on Heaven's Door

Feb 20, 1997

Two young men, Martin and Rudi, both suffering from terminal cancer, get to know each other in a hospital room. They drown their desperation in tequila and decide to take one last trip to the sea. Drunk and still in pajamas they steal the first fancy car they find, a 60's Mercedes convertible. The car happens to belong to a bunch of gangsters, which immediately start to chase it, since it contains more than the pistol Martin finds in the glove box.

6.2

Maybe... Maybe Not

Oct 5, 1994

The heterosexual man Axel is thrown out of his girlfriends home for cheating and ends up moving in with a gay man. Axel learns the advantages of living with gay men even though they are attracted to him and when his girlfriend wants him back he must make a tough decision.

7.7

Edward Scissorhands

Dec 7, 1990

A small suburban town receives a visit from a castaway unfinished science experiment named Edward.

7.5

Lucky Number Slevin

Feb 24, 2006

Slevin is mistakenly put in the middle of a personal war between the city’s biggest criminal bosses. Under constant watch, Slevin must try not to get killed by an infamous assassin and come up with an idea of how to get out of his current dilemma.

8.3

Dead Poets Society

Jun 2, 1989

At an elite, old-fashioned boarding school in New England, a passionate English teacher inspires his students to rebel against convention and seize the potential of every day, courting the disdain of the stern headmaster.

5.2

Berlin is in Germany

Nov 1, 2001

When Martin, a former GDR citizen, is released from jail, he lately becomes confronted with the consequences of the German re-unification.