Rating: 
Summary: Best When Focused on the Canvas
Review: Ever since Kirk Douglas chewed the scenery in "Lust For Life", films depicting great artists have failed to believably reconcile the artistic process with the personal life that supposedly informs the process. Even the much-lauded "Basquiat" is memorable more for the cool soundtrack and Julian Schnabel's depiction of the '80s New York art scene than for any real insights into that artist's creative vision.Thankfully, director/actor Ed Harris approaches "Pollock" from the opposite direction. In this biopic of America's first great modern artist, Harris offers an almost intimate view of Jackson Pollock hovering over his canvas and striving to break free of traditions until he finally stumbles over a truly original form -- action painting. Unfortunately, "Pollock" eventually has to follow the artist back home so he can face his demons -- namely drinking and depression. Once there, there are long moments of silent anguish punctuated by bottle throwing, turning over tables, inconsolable screaming and the isolating of loved ones. It's pretty melodramatic stuff saved from silliness by Marcia Gay Harden, who plays Pollock's wife and artistic acolyte Lee Krasner. The rest of the supporting cast is also game -- save for a dentured Val Kilmer as a forgettable Willem de Kooning -- but screenwriters Barbara Turner and Susan Emshwiller share Harris' seeming indifference toward Pollock's self-destruction. They'd rather get back to the workshop and see what he paints next. Maybe that indifference is intentional, because it makes for an appropriately harrowing final act. But it still doesn't fully explain why such a superb talent could find so little satisfaction in his life or work. Oh well; as it is almost 50 years after Pollock's death all we really have are the paintings. And that's probably enough.
Rating:
Summary: The torture never stops.
Review: This well-acted film about abstract artist Jackson Pollock is such an obvious labor of love for director/star Ed Harris that it hurts me to report that, while it is excellent as an acting excercise, it is rather sketchy (no pun intended) as a biography. Harris (who appears to have added some pounds to his usually wiry frame a la DeNiro in "Raging Bull") completely absorbs himself in the role, reminiscent of Kirk Douglas' tortured Van Gogh in "Lust For Life". Marcia Gay Harden delivers a star-making performance as Pollock's wife, and Harris' real-life wife Amy Madigan is a hoot as the eccentric art patron Peggy Guggenheim. The film is flawed, however, in the part of the story it DOESN'T tell; namely, what happened to Pollock to make him so tortured? We are only presented with symptoms of mental illness (alcholic binges, psychotic outbursts, manic-depressive moodswings), but there is no attempt to explain what the triggers are. Pollock is shown in some scenes as being lucid and engaging, yet in others he appears oddly stilted and almost autistic. That quibble aside, this is still a compelling and worthwhile film; the scene in which Pollock makes his "breakthrough" is quite inspiring and worth the price of admission alone.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting but frustrating
Review: POLLOCK focusses on the artist Jackson Pollock and his life which eventually spirals into tragic circumstances. We come to learn that Pollock is manic depressive who has the ability to change the moods of everyone around him. The film was not as engaging as I had hoped. In fact, it was quite frustrating in parts, and to be honest, I was at a loss to see what all the fuss is over his works of art. Am I missing something? His paintings were appalling, in my opinion. Ed Harris delivers a decent performance of a man whose life wasn't worth making a movie over. Yawn!
Rating: 
Summary: A great biopic prespective of pollock with great charecters
Review: Ed Harris does it again and with a great story behind the movie, this is one of the best bio based fact movie i've ever seen, some parts are a bit hard to understand but nontheless, the real life and road to freedom, away from frustrations, this is a must see high rated movie and i recommend it to any period movie lovers. With a great supporting role from Oscar winning actress Marcia (...) Harden, this movie has reached it status, shame it didn't win an oscar though. 10/10
Rating:
Summary: He makes everyone around him as unhappy as himself
Review: Pollock is indeed an act of love on the part of Ed Harris. Not only does he star in the film, he also commissioned the screenplay, raised the money for its production and directed it. It is the story of the American abstract impressionist painter, Jackson Pollock, whose work was brilliant and whose life was miserable. Marcia Gay Harden plays the role of Pollock's wife, Lee Krasner, who stands by her husband through his alcoholism and his manic depressive fits. He's a troubled man, tortured by his own dark side. And yet, the film wisely never falls into the trap of trying to psychoanalyze. Instead, it lets Pollock's behavior speak for him. His demons are right on the surface as we watch him make everyone around him as unhappy as himself. But we are also treated to seeing the artist at work. We see him in the act of creation. We see his technique and his passion for his work. We see glimpses of pure genius. And we appreciate the art for the pure art that it is. All this is set against a backdrop of Greenwich Village in the 40s and 50s and the period details are excellent. This is a time when everyone smoked cigarettes, artists were experimenting with new forms, and the world seemed fresh and bright. Clothes, hairdos and household details were perfect and added to the sense of time and place. The movie rings with authenticity and you'll learn something about the times as well as gain insight into Jackson Pollock's art. However, I must admit that there were some parts I found boring and that is what keeps me from giving this video my highest rating.
Rating:
Summary: Unsurpassed Craftsmanship
Review: Pollock traces the life of artist Jackson Pollock from 1941 until his death in 1956. It focuses particularly on the nine years that culminated in Pollock's lionization by Life Magazine as the leading figure of mid-century American art. A project of director/star Ed Harris that was years in the development, Pollock gives equal emphasis to the painter's professional achievements and his troubled personal life. It also highlights the role of Lee Krasner, a fellow modernist painter who became Pollock's lover and later his wife. Krasner, portrayed by Marcia Gay Hardin in an Academy Award-winning performance, effectively relegated her own promising career to the backseat in order to promote Pollock's work, take care of him, and protect him as much as possible from his own demons. 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.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing, amazing film
Review: Jackson Pollock's life was so fascinating and came to a tragic end, but what most people don't know is Pollock's struggles and frame of mind while he was living. Ed Harris, who also directed the film, does a beautiful and complete job of letting the audience know who Pollock was. This was a man whose art was really the only outlet he had, the only way of feeling worth and truth, and Harris is such a talented actor that we can feel Pollock and side with his problems. Marcia Gay Harden delivers as well, as Pollock's wife. If you appreciate art and appreciate Pollock, see this movie. It's very worth it.
Rating:
Summary: Story of a tortured artist.
Review: Jackson Pollock, if this movie is to be believed, was a brilliant man whose talents were sometimes obscured by his depression and alcoholism. Ed Harris apparently spent a decade developing this film; I believe it. He gives a brave performance that made him a worthy nominee for Best Actor. Marcia Gay Harden also richly deserved her Oscar for playing Pollock's long-suffering wife, who stays with him literally thick and thin. The "You need, you need, you need" scene was all it took for me to know that her performance was going to be incredibly strong. As for the DVD, its an attractive package: the picture isn't as clear as I would have liked, but there is an excellent commentary by Harris himself, as well as a featurette and an interview with Harris, who discusses the movie. I saw this film simply because Harris was a contender for Best Actor, and I got much more than what I bargained for. "Pollock" is a great film that deserves 2 hours of your time.
Rating:
Summary: Jackson Pollock
Review: Narrative Summary
The movie outlines the life of an artist (Pollock) who struggles to succeed in modern art. His abstract style of painting doesn't seem to be making an impact in the art world. His wife (Lee Krasner), feels differently about his work. She sees that he possesses great talent and encourages him to continue to paint until he finds his own style. In his alcoholic days, Howard Putzel liked Pollock's experimental art and introduced him to wealthy art enthusiast Peggy Guggenheim. Due to her interest, she displayed the unknown Pollock in her gallery and offered him a commission for a painting for her home. This jump started Pollock's career along with an alcohol free lifestyle, however, he still struggles in adopting his own unique style that would distinguish him from other well-known artists.
On day Pollock "cracks it wide open" by discovering a method of painting that involves dripping the paint onto the canvas without the brush ever touching it. With success rapidly coming his way, Pollock enjoys the financial fruits of his artistic labor. His unique style and quality of his work gradually started to decline when he forced himself to go through the motions of "Action Painting" for a documentary film that would show how he creates his art. He starts to feel that his paintings are "phony" and soon reverts back to the bottle. He begins to turn violent both with his wife and friends. After the separation with Krasner, his life ends while driving drunk with his new girlfriend.
Technical Evaluation
Cinematography
The cinematography of "Pollock" is satisfying. It does a good job in establishing the setting of scenes for the viewers. A good example of this would be the long shots of Pollock's house the morning he discovers his new style of painting. A couple of notable characteristics about the cinematography throughout the movie are: • The scene where Pollock was walking into his studio (right before he discovered his unique style of painting), proved interesting in terms of cinematography. The shaking, hand-held camera technique was used to symbolize the entering into a more personal aspect of Pollock's life. It was also used to make the viewers look like they are the ones walking into the studio as Pollock. • Another good cinematographic scene was the one when Pollock was being filmed through a glass pane. This is a good frame-within-a-frame shot. This camera shot symbolized Jackson's "entrapment" of "feeling like a phony." This is also a good visual composition technique (mentioned below). • Other good techniques included the low-angle shot of Pollock when he upset the dining room table. This shot gave Pollock a superior and powerful look, making the other actors in the room feel dominated, controlled, and at his mercy. It also symbolized him losing control of his painting and his life. Yet another good technique was when Jackson discovered his unique style of painting. The camera seemed to flow gracefully as it followed Pollock while painting. This symbolized Pollock's artistic, majestic flow as he painted, which is something that he lacked prior to his discovery. Overall, the cinematography was pleasing, as it sometimes made the viewers feel what Pollock was feeling as he painted, whether it is grace or lifelessness. It built suspense in scenes such as the one where the camera followed Krasner down the hall. Finally, it did a decent job in making Pollock feel trapped while not being able to paint freely in the scene when he was behind the glass pane. Visual Composition The visual composition of the film has a few notable characteristics. One notable scene in the movie where visual composition plays a big role is, again, the scene where Pollock upsets the dining room table. In addition to the low-angle shot (mentioned above), the frame is dynamically unstable (not-balanced) in that there is no center focus. Pollock is off to the right of the frame, while the others are clustered on the left. This gave Pollock a strong sense of territoriality. More space was given to him when he upset the table. The fact that he controlled the left side of the frame while everybody else shared the right symbolized that he was, indeed, in control. A final noteworthy scene to discuss in terms of visual composition was the scene where Pollock discovered his unique style of painting. The medium shot of Pollock staring at the canvas (off to the left of the frame) while holding his paint brush in his right hand (which was centered in the middle of the frame). This established the paint brush as being the center focal point, thus creating heavy visual weight on the brush, and thus attracting the viewers' attention to it as the paint dripped off the brush and onto the floor. Overall, the visual composition does a decent job in bringing attention to certain objects and creating dynamically unstable scenes to display power and geometry. It also does a good job in switching between open and closed form styles. When Jackson discovers his unique style, the film does a good job in symbolizing his freedom through the use of open form techniques such as allowing the camera to follow him wherever he goes, as opposed to symbolizing his confinement through the closed form technique when he struggles with his paintings. Interpretive Evaluation Overall, based on these technical evaluations, the film does a nice job in succeeding in entertaining the audience. It makes good use of cinematography and visual composition that visually describes the type of atmosphere (i.e.-depressed atmosphere while Jackson struggles with modern art and a happy, self-fulfilling atmosphere when he makes his discovery). The cinematography also does a good job in letting the viewers know who was in control in certain scenes through the use of a variety of angled shots and dynamically unstable balances. A combination of these effects with the performances of actors like Harris and Harden makes this film standout from other artist based films that I have seen.
Rating:
Summary: Biography of Pollock and modern art
Review: I agree with most of the previous complaints in that the movie just kind of appears out of no where, not giving the viewer a background or motive, especially if one has never even heard of Jackson Pollock, but this movie is as much about Pollock as it is about art and the public's perception of it. When the critics and lay people are in the middle of a "movement," the lines are blurred between quality work and one-hit wonders. This movie uses Pollock as a mediator to enunciate that art is great when it is aesthetically pleasing, not when it "means" something or makes sense. Pollock in the movie interview with Life magazine was asked, "what does you paintings mean?" He replied by saying: "one doesn't pull their hair our trying to figure out what a bed of flowers means, you just enjoy it."
This movie uses Jackson Pollock's life and art as an example of defining great art.
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