Movie Reviews for Pollock (Special Edition)

Pollock (Special Edition)

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Movie Reviews of Pollock (Special Edition)

Movie Review: On my Top Ten List of 2000
Summary: 5 Stars

The movie covers about a dozen years of the artist's life, beginning in 1941. Pollock is a struggling artist in New York's Greenwich Village. He is also an alcoholic and a manic-depressive. One day a young artist named Lee Krasner [Marcia Gay Harden] drops by his dingy apartment. It seems they are to be in a show together, and she wants to see his work. Though shy and suffering from a massive hangover, he let's her. She is very impressed and asks him to come around anytime to see her paintings. He doesn't show up for three week, which is typical of his behavior. Still, they strike up a friendship and soon become lovers.

The movie makes it clear that Krasner walked into this relationship with eyes wide open. She became Pollock's everything, and though he never truly appreciated what she did for him, she stuck by him for many years. There was a lot to put up with. Besides his battle with the bottle, Pollock had a tendency to insult and belittle people, even those who tried to help his career. He was also a notorious womanizer. After a few years, they got married, but when Pollock suggested they have a child, she refused. She knew he was all the child she could ever handle. [This is the movie's most poignant scene.]

I don't mean to suggest that there were no good times for Pollock and Krasner. There were a lot of them. In part because she was his staunchest supporter and ally, Pollock became both famous and well to do. They bought a house in Long Island's East Hamptons before the place became chic. He did find some happiness there, but I suspect the only times he was truly happy was when he was painting. But the art work came in fits and spurts, as art often does. It was when he wasn't feeling creative that he was the most miserable and the most apt to bring sorrow to those around him. The demons that possessed him led to a very tragic outcome.

Sam Harris is absolutely mesmerizing as Pollock. I don't think I've ever seen the idea that genius and madness go hand in hand so expertly embodied. I like the fact that Mr. Harris chose to give no explanations for Pollock's insanity. He seems to believe that a tortured soul can just happen, and I tend to agree. Some people are born with an inability to fit in. Pollock, for example, was a genius in a visual sense, but he was often inarticulate, unless he was talking about himself. This must have been frustrating to both him and to those around him, for arty types often tend to talk, talk, talk and expect others to do the same. He was also amoral, which puts most people off. An amoral person is one who does socially unacceptable things without ever understanding how or why they are unacceptable.

Marcia Gay Harden gets equal raves from this reviewer for her portrayal of Krasner. She gives fire to the character and does a remarkable job in showing us a woman who could be both hard and vulnerable at the same time. She shows us that Krasner was nobody's doormat but was still someone who could set her own aspirations aside in order to help a genuinely talented misfit. Later in life, Krasner became a high respected artist in her own right.

I think Pollock will appeal most to people who are more fascinated by people than by technology. For me, it proved to be an exhilarating experience. For others, it will be just a silly story about a man who drank a lot and threw paint on canvas for a living.

Movie Review: Stunning Work By Harris
Summary: 5 Stars

As romantic as it may sound, the reality of suffering for one's art is just that: Suffering. For realizing that vision and bringing it to fruition is more often than not an arduous and tortuous path to tread. Coalescing the fragments of that vision and transferring that information into reality can be a painful process, and one of the strengths of this film is that it so succinctly conveys that sense of desperation and frustration that are seemingly an intrinsic part of "creating." There's a scene in which Pollock, after having been commissioned to do a mural, sits on the floor of his studio with his back against the wall staring for days on end at the blank canvas stretched across the room, waiting for that spark of inspiration, that sudden moment when what he must do will crystallize in his mind's eye. It's a powerful, intense scene that allows you to share that creative process with the artist and experience the emotional turmoil of it, as well as the exhilaration of the moment when it all suddenly becomes clear, when the vision is realized. It's a stunning moment; Pollock's face fills the screen and you actually see it in his eyes, the exact moment of discovery. And it's absolute magic.

As Pollock, Ed Harris gives arguably the best performance of his career; he perfectly captures every emotional level of this complex individual, from the manic highs and lows (exacerbated by alcohol consumption) to the neutral moments in between. He totally immerses himself in the character, and what surfaces is a thorough and memorable picture of a tortured genius and flawed human being. It's an astounding piece of work, for which he most certainly should have taken home the Oscar for Best Actor.

Marcia Gay Harden received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Lee Krasner, the woman who loved Pollock and devoted herself (even at the expense of her own career as an artist) to the man and his art. It's a terrific performance, through which Harden brings Lee to life, physically and emotionally. Her amount of screen time seemingly should have qualified her for a Best Actress nomination, but regardless, her work here is unquestionably deserving of the Oscar.

The supporting cast includes Amy Madigan (Peggy Guggenheim), Jennifer Connelly (Ruth), Jeffrey Tambor (Clement), Bud Cort (Howard), John Heard (Tony), Sada Thompson (Stella Pollock) and Val Kilmer (Willem de Kooning). Harris' triumph with "Pollock" does not begin and end with his extraordinary performance, however; though his acting is so exceptional it would be easy to overlook the brilliant job of directing he did with this film. And it is brilliant. The way this film is presented is the work of not only a seasoned professional, but of a professional artist with a unique vision of his own. One of the best films of the year (2000), hopefully it will in the future receive the acclaim of which it is so richly deserving. Hopefully, as well, Harris will direct again; for it is talent like his, and films like this one, that expand the Cinematic Universe as we know it.

Movie Review: Unsurpassed Craftsmanship
Summary: 5 Stars

Ed Harris has always been one of my favorite guys to watch on the big screen. In a long line of films - including Knightriders, Apollo 13, The Abyss, The Truman Show, and The Right Stuff - the common denominator in Harris's performances has been a kind of surface placidity that can give way suddenly to explosive emotion. That quality fits like a glove on the character of Jackson Pollock, a painfully shy alcoholic given to fits of towering rage. Occasionally, in embodying the extremes of the artist's personality, Harris seems to miss the more delicate shadings in the middle. Nevertheless, it's a mesmerizing performance, the perfect complement to Hardin's loyal, longsuffering Krasner.

An extraordinary level of craftsmanship is evident in nearly every aspect of this film. Harris went to great lengths to learn enough of Pollock's celebrated painting style to be able to mimic it with absolute confidence. Some of the most enjoyable moments in the movie are those in which the artist simply works, attacking the canvas with big, looping ribbons and fat dollops of paint. Even the music score that underlies these scenes of triumphant activity is perfect - intricate and understated, as if it didn't want to disturb the painter in the moment of inspiration. Minute attention to period detail and set design impeccably evoke post-World War II America, and the film somehow captures the vigorous optimism of the American art scene that is reflected in the flowering of Abstract Expressionism.

Each scene is a small gem, cut with seeming artlessness. In one sequence, Pollock has just traded one of his paintings to a grocery store owner for a case of beer; and now, already a sheet or two to the wind, he's bicycling home with the wooden crate full of bottles perched perilously on the handlebars of his bike. After managing to stay upright for some distance, he pulls a bottle from the case, somehow knocks the top off it, removes the cigarette from his mouth and tries to take a swig from the bottle - all of which he impossibly pulls off until a passing car distracts him and the whole thing comes crashing down. In someone else's movie the scene would be a throwaway, some humorous filler to round out the weightier stuff; but here it's an exquisite miniature of everything that's miraculously right and everything that's tragically wrong with the protagonist. Nothing in this film is thrown away.

Pollock isn't always an easy movie to watch. It's certainly not a panegyric to the artist who, while unquestionably brilliant, was also an abusive, self-absorbed drunk. It is, however, an inspiring paean to the redemptive power of creative endeavor. As much as you might scorn the painter for his loutish behavior with Krasner and others, as soon as he picks up the paintbrush and hurls himself into his work, he's got you. In 1949, Life posed the rhetorical question of whether Jackson Pollock was the greatest American artist of his day. That's a question that is probably as difficult to answer today as it was then. But it seems certain that Pollock is the greatest film about any American artist of any era.

Movie Review: An extraordinary exhibition by Ed Harris
Summary: 5 Stars

For Harris this was not so much a filmmaking project as it was a personal obsession. Harris, who is himself a painter, had thought about making a biographical film about Pollock for over a decade. When Steven Naifeh published the book, "Jackson Pollock: An American Saga", Harris saw his chance. He turned to Barbara Turner and Susan Emschwiller to write a screenplay based on the book, and he began to immerse himself in an all consuming mania that in many ways was analogous to the frenzied passion of the painter he hoped to portray.

From a directorial standpoint, the film is extraordinary in every regard, which is quite remarkable for a first time director. Harris creates an intricate and complex weave with a character study that is simultaneously moving, exhilarating and tragic. The period renderings are meticulously correct, from the costumes and furniture to the cars and the vintage packages on the shelves of the country store. The music selection is a fantastic swirl of big band and other jazz standards from the 1940's from Benny Goodman to Billie Holiday. The photography (with kudos to cinematographer Lisa Rinzler) is excellent with some extraordinary lighting effects, especially the backlit scene where Jackson and Lee first make love. As if all of this weren't enough, Harris induces unbelievably compelling performances out of all the cast members.

Harris has always been an artist among celebrities, a hard working and accomplished actor living on the fringes in supporting roles or minor leads. Given the freedom afforded by producing, directing and acting in this film, his talent and skill shine forth unencumbered. His performance is nothing short of phenomenal. He seems more like he is channeling than acting. The DVD includes some footage of the actual Pollock at work and after seeing this, Harris' portrayal takes on an almost eerie realism. In the painting scenes, Harris like Pollock attacks the canvas like a man possessed, with rapid strokes that make it seem as if his muscles can't react as fast as the genius that is flowing forth. In the dramatic scenes, Harris delivers a white hot performance of a tormented and moody genius struggling with alcohol addiction and an enormous inferiority complex. He received his third Oscar nomination for this performance, his first for best actor. I don't know if Harris will ever be able to surpass his performance here, given the level of dedication and inspiration he possessed regarding the subject matter, but I certainly hope this opens opportunities in both lead acting roles and directorial projects worthy of his abilities.

Marcia Gay Hardin gives a performance that goes stride for stride with Harris. She won the Oscar for best supporting actress and fully deserved it. She captures the essence of Lee Krasner's unbending devotion to Pollock, subjugating her own painting pursuits to support and promote his career (Krasner went on to become a prominent artist in her own right after Pollock's death). Her 1940's Brooklyn accent is superb, as is her command of the zeitgeist of the intelligentsia of the period. Amy Madigan is also terrific as Peggy Guggenheim, the flamboyant gallery owner and niece of Solomon R. Guggenheim, the benefactor of the famous Guggenheim museum (though this relationship is not mentioned in the film).

This film is superlative in almost every way. It opened in limited distribution, shown on less than 10% of the nation's screens, and still managed to gross $8 Million. I rated it a 10/10. I highly recommend it to the intelligent viewer and to lovers of fine art.

Movie Review: Devotion by Ed Harris
Summary: 5 Stars