Featuring Bryan and Bill Friedman. Rated PG.

The unknowability of fathers has been a theme of literature since the Bible, fuelling many plays and movies over the years. In the case of The Bodybuilder and I, filmmaker Bryan Friedman–the I of this documentary's title–really didn't know his dad, a hotshot corporate lawyer. Bill Friedman walked out on Bryan's mother and older brother early on, preferring a selfish life unencumbered by pesky children or wives.

Bill came back into the picture recently when Bryan learned his father had become a competitive bodybuilder. Whether motivated by narcissism or an urge for atonement, the elder Friedman agreed to participate in a documentary about their relationship (or lack thereof) while preparing for his last attempt to win a national contest in his age category.

Along the way, through smooth editing and clever musical cues, we learn more than we ever wanted to know about deltoids, "dream tans", and geriatric choreography. (And who knew so many old Jewish guys were into bodybuilding?)

The film is uncomfortably intimate at times. Its maker's talents include a flair for self-dramatization, which the father calls him on during a climactic yet characteristically low-key confrontation. Of course, that's nothing compared with seeing dad publicly parading in mini Speedos, dancing to the music from Superman . (And "Macarena"? What's up with that?)

But however the father fares in his last stab at Pam-sprayed glory–and there is some suspense here–the film is really about a family, no matter how tenuous. (It's interesting knowing that after the shoot wrapped, Bryan Friedman started law school.)

Link: The Bodybuilder and I at the NFB