Pollock

Rating:
Summary: A great tribute
Review: What an inspiring look into the sad little world of Jackson Pollock. It was, at times, a bit slow going but worth every minute.

Rating:
Summary: Compelling
Review: The tangled web of rhythmic paint splatters that characterize Pollack's later work shed no light on his personality; likewise, this film does little to explain the tortured-soul aspects of his life except to hint at a nervous disorder that keeps him out of the Army (must've been a doozy, as they took nearly everyone for WWII) and to show his constant drinking. Ed Harris has quite a task for himself in this powerful biography to show tension where there is no visible conflict.

Marcia Gay Hayden turns in a memorable performance as Lee Krasner, the abstract artist who nursemaids Pollack as his lover then wife. And Harris captured the essence of a neurotic and almost wordless man. He gives a hint that childhood was torment, but nothing more comes out to reveal his inner demons. Amy Madigan is marvelous as Peggy Guggenheim, the art patron who propels him into fame. The film does let the art speak for itself (they used reproductions that were faithful to the originals) and the shots of Harris painting, stroking and throwing the streams of paint on canvas was probably the highlight of the film. Not everyone is pleased with this film; Kligman, the mistress, is suing the film makers for taking from her journals, but overall, it's a stunning film that makes conflict and tension work mostly from Harris' excellent acting.

Rating:
Summary: Life with a Legendary Painter: Marcia Gay Harden Is Teriffic
Review: Ed Harris gives very compelling acting as Jackson Pollock, legendary American painter, whose life story has been recently followed by the aptly titled book "Jackson Pollock: an American Saga" by Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith. Actually, the film is based on this book.

So, you may expect to see the artist's stormy lifestory; sure, you will, but the film skips his childhood when living at a farm in Arizona. It concentrates on drawing the relations between Pollock and his wife Lee Krasner, New Yorker and artist on her own. Winsome Lee senses something in Jackson's paintings when he was still an unknown, convinced that he has a huge talent to be discovered. Jackson was often a difficult person to get along with, mainly because of drinking, but Lee helps the struggling artist, even abandoning her career for him.

The film traces the ups and downs of their life. You may feel there are more "downs" than "ups," and perhaps you are right. Any artist's life can be heaven or hell, and the Pollocks' is no exception.

You are not allowed to know the reason for Jackson's constant pains, which are manifest all over the film. You can feel (sometimes self-destructive) energy of his personality and creativity, thanks to Ed Harris's great acting, and Pollock's original way of painting (Dripping paints onto the paper on floor) is convincingly re-created. But about his bad habit of drinking, you will never know what drove him to act that way. If Jackson Pollock here is convincing, that is because Ed Harris is convincing, not the script, which tends to be episodic, like that of "Frida."

But it is excellent Marcia Gay Harden who should be most praised as the driving force of the film. Her natural and charming acting as Mrs. Pollock will never fail to pull you in, showing the credible portrait of an independent and compassionate woman who understood him. Don't miss her.

Not an easy bio-pic to watch because of its central character, but still the film is compelling owing to the two leading actors. And check out the cameos like Val Kilmer, John Heard, Jennifer Connelly, and scean-stealing Amy Madigan (Mrs. Ed Harris) as free-spirited Peggy Guggenheim.

Rating:
Summary: Balanced, well constructed, effective
Review: Such words may seem ironic when referring to the drip king of painting who bridled at any suggestion of "accident" in his work, but in Mr Harris' portrait of the artist there is a well rounded and sympathetic appreciation of all aspects of his work and life so that one for example does not come away feeling his family were unsympathetic, or that critics were fools, or that he, the artist, was another misunderstood genius and victim of an intolerant society. Mr Harris is very good at establishing cinematically relevant points with economy - the initial seduction by Ms Krasner, the dynamics of family at table, the imperatives of the alcoholic who has to have a sip whilst being embraced by his wife. He is also playing the role, and relies on his considerable acting skills to depict ageing rather than rely on makeup. Finally, we come away with an understanding of the artistic process of Mr Pollock who, if the writers are to be believed, would sit staring at a blank canvas for weeks, months, then explode in a frenzy of artistic energy. All in all, an excellent film in the difficult biopic genre.

Rating:
Summary: more true than most realize
Review: A wonderful film/documentary and I also strongly recommend the book "To A Violent Grave". It was written here and shows you just how true to life the movie is. Work of this quality is rarely found today in "hollywood", absolutely great work by Ed Harris.

Rating:
Summary: ARTISTIC INSANITY
Review: One the greatest artists to live in my opinion, his creativity is only matched by his depression. This movie diplays excellent performances from Ed Harris and especially Marcia Gay Harden as "Lee Krasner", she brutaly shows the mental anguish "Lee Krasner", had to endure due to "Pollock's" drinking. This being a true story is also a huge plus because most true storie's do not end happily,but thats life folks. If you are a modern art fan, a fan of any art, this movie is worth watching. The deleted seens on the DVD are o.k., but not a big deal,the commentary is kind of boring and so is the making of documentary, the movie itself is the only draw here. Oh yea, I almost forgot to mention that Bud Cort is in this film, you know, from "Harold and Maude" fame, that alone is worth it.

Rating:
Summary: A tribute to Ed Harris.
Review: Like most DVDs this one has a commentary track. Avoid it. From blowing off an overacting extra at the very get go to complaining about having to pay for every copywrited detail Ed Harris continually points out that Ed Harris made this film because his Dad told Ed he looked just like Pollack so he ought to become Pollack for all the world to see. This is odd because if Pollack had any problem it was not with an inflated ego.

Commentary aside I think art people will enjoy this film because Harris is an excellent actor and an excellent director of the art biography genre. It doesn't follow the book that closely and completely avoids the homosexuality issue but all in all gets a good artistic point across: some people are artists and some people are really artists, Pollack was an incredible artist. You see him deal with painting, you see him painting, you see him engaging critics. You don't see him dealing much with other artists as painters but that's a minor point.

You'll never see Jackson Pollack's stacked around like cordwood anywhere else.

Rating:
Summary: the man who painted energy
Review: Based on "Jackson Pollock: An American Saga" by Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith, this film is a portrait of a destructive, self indulgent man who though brilliant, was nonetheless a double-distilled jerk. Was it self-interest that motivated the ambitious Lee Krasner to stay with him ? Perhaps the need to nurture, and be a part of a talent greater than hers ? Who can tell what drives such complex relationships, and had she not been at his side, it is doubtful that he would have achieved his current place in art history; perhaps it was a fated, infernal partnership, all for art's sake.

Ed Harris as director and actor brought this story to life with believability and his chemistry with Marcia Gay Harden is superb; he received Oscar nomination for Best Actor, and she won for Best Supporting Actress, and both deservedly so. There is a fight scene towards the end of the film that is so real it sounds as if it is actually happening. I find myself lowering the volume, so my neighbors don't call the police.
Also excellent is Sada Thompson as Pollock's mother, and Amy Madigan (Mrs. Ed Harris in real life) as Peggy Guggenheim.

The cinematography, set, and costume design all capture the look of mid 20th century America, and the soundtrack by Jeff Beal is lovely; I particularly like the sprightly theme that seems sometimes to connect one scene to another.
I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the depiction of the creative process, like when he discovered his drip technique, and also loved the representation of the 1950 exhibit at the Betty Parsons Gallery, with the final camera shot zooming into the paint itself.
Though he struggled long and hard for fame, once it was his, he said "I feel like a clam without a shell". Lee survived him by by 28 years, and hopefully, found some peace and joy in life, along with the wonderful work she was to do once on her own.
This is not something to view on a date night, or for fun, but it is a fascinating film, especially for someone in the arts.

Rating:
Summary: Ed Harris's filmic labor of love
Review: Ed Harris makes a more than respectable directorial debut and gives a brilliant performance in this complex, passionate biopic of celebrated artist Jackson Pollock and his battle with the bottle which led to his critical downfall and eventual death in a car accident.
Based on the book "Jackson Pollock: An American Saga" by Steve Naifeh and Gregory White Smith and with a screenplay by Barbara Turner and Susan J. Emshwiller; POLLOCK is actually almost completely devoid of details of his childhood and early life, which could have given viewers a better glimpse into how Pollock's mind worked. However, excellent performances by Harris and Marcia Gay Harden, in an Oscar winning role as Pollock's loyal; long-suffering wife make this a compelling movie nonetheless.
Even though some may be put off by the notion that this could easily be dismissed as a vanity project starring Ed Harris. Directed by Ed Harris. With audio commentary by Ed Harris. And an interview with Ed Harris. And lets not forget the climactic postscript by... Ed Harris. But I won't bust his ego too much because this is an excellent movie, one which even an avante guarde art hater such as myself enjoyed.
The film also features in minor roles a pre-Oscar winning Jennifer Connelly as Pollock's mistress, Bud Cort and a thankfully brief appearance by Val Kilmer with the worst movie hairstyle in recent memory. Worse even than Eddie Griffin in UNDERCOVER BROTHER. They're my only nitpicks. If you're tiring of all the predictable popcorn cinema churned out by Hollywood; then POLLOCK is a good movie to help you escape from that, but viewers will need to be patient with it in order to reap the full rewards. Definitely worth checking out.

Rating:
Summary: Ed Harris personally brings Jackson Pollock to the screen
Review: Jackson Pollock received some artistic training as a student of the bombastic regionalist Thomas Hart Benton and was known to admire the work of Mexican socialist realists such as Jose Clemente Orozco and David Alfaro Siqueiros. These influences become fascinating because it is difficult to connect the dots between any of their works and anything done by Pollock. Pick anything, "Lavender Mist: Number 1" or the mural he did for Peggy Guggenheim during World War II, and try to make the connections. All they have in common is a sense of size. These were painters who did murals, covering huge areas of canvas with color. But ultimately the history of art looks at Pollock as creating a unique visual language, painting with trowels, knives, sticks, and dripping paint to create intricate, intertwined lines.

"Pollock," in which Ed Harris not only plays the artist but works at a director for the first time, deals with Polllock's struggle with alcoholism and depression, which played out not only against his creative work with art, but also in his volatile relationship with his wife, the artist Lee Krausner (Marsha Gay Harden). At the end of this two hour film, which covers Pollock's life and career from the early 1940s when his work was brought to the attention of Peggy Guggenheim (Amy Madigan) until his death in a car crash in 1956, the one think you will be convinced about is that no matter how great of an artist he was, Jackson Pollock was a miserable human being. Pollock might have betrayed his wife, who took care of him and made sure he got through the rest of the day that did not involve painting, for a star struck youngster (Jennifer Connelly), but it is also clear he never betrayed his artistic vision, and in the long run that is what matters the most in art.

Ultimately "Pollock" is an emotional biography more than either a psychological or an artistic one. The audience is clearly on the outside looking at the outside of Pollock. The comparison that comes to my mind from more contemporary times is Kurt Cobain, because I see in both the desire to be accepted and to have their new and radical approach to their art form validated by the masses, but being repulsed by that acceptance on some key level. This is an artist who apparently cared about what the critics said and even asked for more excoriation from them in the confines of his own home. Pollock reveled in positive publicity so much that he endured being told when to stop painting by some clown filming a documentary of the artist at work. The Oscar-nominated performance by Harris does really provide answers, but it does provide a clear sense of the depth of torment and the enigma of the artistic mind. We might not understand where the art comes from, but we at least appreciate the work that was involved and the sheer physical labor of making giant paintings.

This film is as much a testament to Ed Harris as it is to Pollock, since it was the actor who first read the book "Jackson Pollack: An American Sage" by Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith, who commissioned the screenplay by Barbara Turner and Susan Ernshwiller, who put together the funding for the film, and who ended up directing the picture as well. The physical comparison between the actor and the artist is striking, but Harris gets well beyond skin deep with this performance, which justifies his name being on the short list of actors who are long over due an Academy Award. You will probably still need to find a decent biography to understand the significance of the art critic Clement Greenberg (Jeffrey Tambor) and the super rich Peggy Guggenheim in legitimating Abstract Expressionism, but to better understand Jackson Pollock after you watch this film you just have to go and lose yourself in the paintings. Warning: looking at reproductions in art books of paintings that are 9 feet by 18 feet is insufficient to the task.