Pollock review
by Tim Wick

Let me start by telling all of you about a great movie review site I've located (did I say all of you? I meant both of you). The site is called rotten tomatoes and the great thing they do is roll up all the reviews they can find to give a film an overall thumbs up or thumbs down rating (no, I'm not featured). First of all, there isn't a film made that has ever gotten a 100% rating, proving once and for all that critics (like me) don't know a darn thing about what makes a good movie. However, it can sometimes help me understand my reaction to a particular film.

You see, in the case of Pollock, Chris Hewitt of the Pioneer Press pretty much hated the movie. On the other hand, Roger Ebert thought it was one of the best films of the year. I found myself somewhere in the middle, which is why rotten tomatoes made me feel better. Critical opinion on this film was to the positive side, but not by an overwhelming margin. Right about where I was.

Of course most would think I was going to see this movie because Ed Harris (Jackson Pollock) and Marcia Gay Harden (Lee Krasner - Pollock's wife) are nominated for Oscars. Had that been true, I would have asked for tickets to "Pole-ock" as a woman in line did. Instead, I was going to see a movie starring one of my favorite actors (Harris) about a painter I admire (for the record, his name is pronounced "pahl-uck").

Like most geniuses, Pollock was a tortured man. Introverted and shy, he seemed to always be relying on someone else to show him the way. When he painted, however, there was no-one but him. Harris manages to capture the shy alcoholic and the focused painter at the same time. The film was something of a labor of love for him (he directed the movie as well) and that is, perhaps, where the film is flawed.

I found myself seeing in Pollock the same fundamental flaw there is in Man on the Moon. Both Jackson Pollock and Andy Kaufman were enigmas. They didn't share their secrets with anyone. Because of that, any biopic will suffer because we can never truly get inside the head of the character. I came out of Pollock knowing pretty much what I had known when I went in. He revolutionized painting, he wasn't very happy, he was an alcoholic and he died young.

There are some moments that do manage to engage the viewer, however. In particular, Pollocks shaky relationship with his family is well brought out (though I was frustrated that it didn't bring out more). For all his fame, it seemed that Pollock wanted the love and respect of his family more than anyone. That they did not give it to him (partially as a result of the obnoxious lengths to which he went for acceptance) was clearly a burden he could not handle. Harris plays these scenes better than almost any other. You can hear the desperation in his voice, see him pleading for acceptance and you can empathize when once again, his family isn't listening or watching.

The most captivating scenes in the film are when Pollock is painting. What he painted may seem to many like little more than dribbled paint on canvas, but to those who enjoy art for more than form, it is groundbreaking work because it separated the artist from pure realism. Pollock was the first to allow artists to move beyond the realm of the real and enter the realm of the fantastic. The film follows his painting with a sort of awe reserved only for the great masters. In Pollock himself, his soul becomes quiet. We see that painting is his escape from a reality that is too difficult to face.

The nominated performances are both worthy. Harden manages to give Krasner depth that helps you understand why a woman like her would continue to live in a loveless marriage. Krasner was driven by a need to keep Jackson Pollock painting. In many ways, she sacrificed her life so that he could become the painter he was. She could easily have been labeled a gold digger, but instead is a sort of martyr for the cause of great art.

Harris is one of my favorites. I hope he wins the Oscar just because he really deserves one. His performance here shows more breadth than the his nominated turns in Apollo 13 or The Truman Show. I'm not sure if it approaches the wonderful range of The Abyss, but I'm somewhat biased towards that movie.

Pollock

Three and a half Beakers
(out of five)

Search This Site