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

From the youth directed novel of the same name by Greogor Tressnow comes a film by Detlev Buck that is a realistic portrait of life in the section of Berlin called Neukölln. It’s about power and weakness, delinquents and victims, and the difficulties a 15-year-old faces in a poor and criminal environment.

6.2

Popular Music

Oct 1, 2004

Matti and Niila, growing up in the mid-sixties in the harsh and conservative environment of a Finnish-speaking part of Tornedalen in Swedish Laponia, close to the Finnish border. Their big dream is to become rock stars. In the present the now grown-up Matti feels guilt for the death of his drug-addicted rock star friend Niila.

7.1

As It Is in Heaven

Sep 3, 2004

A musical romantic tragedy about a famous composer who moves back to his small hometown after having had heart troubles. His search for a simple everyday life leads him into teaching the local church choir, which is not easily accepted by the town yet the choir builds a great love for their teacher.

7.1

My Own Private Idaho

Feb 1, 1991

In this loose adaptation of Shakespeare's "Henry IV," Mike Waters is a hustler afflicted with narcolepsy. Scott Favor is the rebellious son of a mayor. Together, the two travel from Portland, Oregon to Idaho and finally to the coast of Italy in a quest to find Mike's estranged mother. Along the way they turn tricks for money and drugs, eventually attracting the attention of a wealthy benefactor and sexual deviant.

7.1

Stranger Than Paradise

Oct 1, 1984

New York layabout Willie forms an unexpected bond with his young Hungarian cousin Eva when she pays him a surprise visit. Later, Eva moves in with their aunt in Cleveland, and Willie takes his best friend Eddie to see her—a visit that culminates in a strange, eventful trip to Florida.

7.4

Being John Malkovich

Oct 29, 1999

One day at work, unsuccessful puppeteer Craig finds a portal into the head of actor John Malkovich. The portal soon becomes a passion for anybody who enters its mad and controlling world of overtaking another human body.

7.2

Monster

Dec 24, 2003

In 1989, prostitute Aileen Wuornos befriends and enters a relationship with a young woman named Selby. Determined to straighten out her life, Aileen's limited education lands her back on the corner. She's raped by a trick, who she kills. A string of murder and robbery follows that ultimately leads Aileen to becoming America's first female serial killer.

6.3

Johnny Handsome

Sep 12, 1989

A career criminal who has been deformed since birth is given a new face by a kindly doctor and paroled from prison. It appears that he has gone straight, but he is really planning his revenge on the man who killed his mentor and sent him to prison.

6.2

Killing Zoe

Oct 1, 1993

Zed is an American vault-cracker who travels to Paris to meet up with his old friend Eric. Eric and his gang have planned to raid the only bank in the city which is open on Bastille day. After offering his services, Zed soon finds himself trapped in a situation beyond his control when heroin abuse, poor planning and a call-girl named Zoe all conspire to turn the robbery into a very bloody siege.

8.4

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Nov 19, 1975

A petty criminal fakes insanity to serve his sentence in a mental ward rather than prison. He soon finds himself as a leader to the other patients—and an enemy to the cruel, domineering nurse who runs the ward.

7.3

The Promised Land

Feb 21, 1975

In nineteenth-century Łódź, Poland, three friends want to make a lot of money by building and investing in a textile factory. An exceptional portrait of rapid industrial expansion is shown through the eyes of one Polish town.

6.6

Requiem

Mar 2, 2006

Michaela, an epileptic, enrolls in college to study education. She goes off her medication and soon begins hearing voices and seeing apparitions that tell her to avoid religious objects, although she is devoutly Roman Catholic. One priest scoffs at the idea that Michaela could be possessed by demons, but a younger pastor arranges an exorcism for the young woman.

4.0

Mutants

Jan 22, 2020

In the summer of 1996, life throws a curveball in the face of Keven Guénette; and it strikes. Guided by his paraplegic baseball coach, Keven discovers the mutation, sex and love.

7.5

Beauty and the Beast

Oct 29, 1946

The story of a gentle-hearted beast in love with a simple and beautiful girl. She is drawn to the repellent but strangely fascinating Beast, who tests her fidelity by giving her a key, telling her that if she doesn't return it to him by a specific time, he will die of grief. She is unable to return the key on time, but it is revealed that the Beast is the genuinely handsome one. A simple tale of tragic love that turns into a surreal vision of death, desire, and beauty.

6.9

The Tin Drum

May 2, 1979

In 1924, Oskar Matzerath is born in the Free City of Danzig. At age three, he falls down a flight of stairs and stops growing. In 1939, World War II breaks out.

8.2

Oldboy

Nov 21, 2003

With no clue how he came to be imprisoned, drugged and tortured for 15 years, a desperate man seeks revenge on his captors.

7.6

A Streetcar Named Desire

Sep 18, 1951

A disturbed, aging Southern belle moves in with her sister for solace — but being face-to-face with her brutish brother-in-law accelerates her downward spiral.