‘Musk’ truly leaves a stench

By Amelia Morris

Elon Musk is the richest person ever with an estimated worth of $1 trillion. “Musk” is a comprehensive documentary that aims to uncover the reason for his explosive success and unveil what the “visionary genius” does behind closed doors.

The movie begins by immediately admitting its own faults in the first five minutes. The film discloses to the audience that an interview with Musk was denied. Because of this, the audience better get comfortable for this four hour ride after hearing that jaw-dropping news.

As a substitute, filmmakers opted to use an AI database to suffice this hole. Rather than utilizing archival clips like any normal documentary would—an awkward, disfigured and mangled AI reproduction of Musk was created to reproduce interviews. 

The AI use is easily refutable. The audience cannot take what the AI bot in front of them is saying at face value. Filmmakers should have used direct footage of the quotes they claim Musk said instead of putting it through this tertiary source.

Conveniently, any mention of AI use is left out of both the synopsis and trailer for the film. Audiences are unaware until their butts are in the theater seat. The movie is based on what a computer program is spoon feeding to them. There are also no photos available of the AI model, can’t let the secret get out.

The director, Alex Gibney, never fails to add his own commentary through his personal narration of the story. He certainly had a multitude of opinions to share about Musk.

Additionally, the subject matter is extremely broad. The four hours attempted to cover the genesis of Musk’s starter companies, his marriages, children, current business and so much more in between. Some topics were less relevant than others but none transitioned well into each other. 

Filmmakers also decided to add animations to the movie. This added a breather for the audience and kept the story moving—the story certainly needed it. 

Interviews with Musk’s personal friends, family and business associates were plentiful and well conducted. However, the gaping hole of Musk’s own voice was apparent when the film kept calling back to his AI version. The documentary could have solely relied on interviews and archival footage and survived. Cutting out the AI slop would have also decreased the run time.

The documentary proved that while Musk is a business man, he is more than passionate about what he does. He clearly made it to the top by pushing his way there and reaching the true extent of himself.

Musk’s business savvy brought him success but that does not mean he makes the best decisions every time. The hard truth is, business is cut throat and Musk has taken this world upon his shoulders.

The documentary strives to poke holes in Musk’s character while his businesses continue to thrive. The reason for his success can be attributed to his attitude, not stellar moral judgement. Being a multibillionaire and a good person do not coincide, audiences should expect this.

Musk coincidentally debuted his Tesla Roadster days after the movie’s release. The Tesla Roadster is the newest innovation for the company’s ambition toward flying cars. Despite the hate Musk receives in the documentary, he continues to find more ways to expand his company. 

Overall, the documentary struggled to prove a point, which is why it continued to drag through its four hour run time. The ten minute intermission halfway through could have easily been avoided if the editors properly did their job. This was not a case of a long but good movie. It was simply just long.

By no means is this project objective. Interviews, animation and AI use paint Musk in a very dark light. Some moral judgement was thrown out for the sake of creating this documentary as well as in Musk’s business decisions. To an extent, the audience cannot blame him. His success has overtaken his life and become what he lives for. He has to make $1 trillion somehow.

“Musk” sums the man up perfectly: he is egotistical and he lusts for power. The end. There is no need for the movie to go on for four hours. Everything in the movie could have been summed up in half the runtime.

While the information expressed in the film was interesting, the net cast for this project was too wide. Editors could have done a better job simplifying the content. In this case, less is more. 

“Musk” is currently available in select theaters.

Amelia Morris is a sophomore journalism major and writer for Cedars A&E. She loves her dogs, music, reading and exploring nature.

Photos courtesy of Jigsaw Productions, HBO, Double Agent and Anonymous Content.