Pollock Poster

Pollock (2000)

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Rayting:   7.0/10 27K votes
Country: USA
Language: English
Release date: 23 March 2001

A film about the life and career of the American painter, Jackson Pollock.

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User Reviews

mfoster12754 2 December 2001

The only reason I even attempted to watch this movie is because Ed Harris was in it, whom I like, and because I heard it was supposed to be good because it got nominated for some awards. But I could not even finish watching it, I kept falling asleep and when I would wake up I would think, oh, did it finally get a POINT!!?? But, alas, NO. I could not have cared less if someone had run over the idiot and had his guts all smeared over the street. He was a pathetic no-talent loser drunk who happened to drip some paint on a sheet. My 5-year old could do that.

secondtake 28 August 2010

Fmovies: Pollock (2000)

There's no question this is a well made film, and based pretty much on truth, and an interesting truth--the life of a great Abstract Expressionist. Some would say the greatest of them all.

For myself, this isn't enough, and I know this is me. I'm an art critic and professor of Art in my real life, and I'm never very patient with movies about artists. The reason isn't that there are inaccuracies, but that there is a subtle or not-subtle goal of aggrandizing the subject. This reaches a beautiful but, again, romanticized, peak when Pollock makes his famous break into true gestural, raw work in a large commissioned piece for Peggy Guggenheim (who is portrayed, oddly, as a shy and dull sort, which I've never pictured). Then later he makes his drip works. And then he dies, again over dramatized and made aesthetic, as tragic and ugly as it had to have been in life.

If you want to really get into Pollock's head, especially if you aren't already a fan (I love Pollock's work), this is a convincing movie. At the helm as both director and playing the artist is Ed Harris. He is especially believable as a painter, which is something of an important point. This isn't like those movies about musicians where the actor is clearly not playing. Harris actually paints the darned thing, the big masterpiece, on the cusp of the drip works. I don't know if Harris was drinking, too, but he's a good drunk, and of course Pollock was a better drinker than a painter, even.

It's a cheap shot to say a movie could have been shorter, but this one sure would have propelled better with less atmosphere, less filler that is meant to create his life but is interesting only as an illustration of historical facts. It wore me thin for those reasons. Again, it might be a matter of how much you can get sucked into the given drama that is Jackson Pollock's life. It was quite a life, crude, untempered, brave, and immensely connected to what matters as an artist.

Michael Fargo 23 February 2001

I doubt there are many folks who don't like Ed Harris as an actor. Over the last two decades he's given strong performances with a certain subtlety that is a trademark. Therefore, I'm also reasonably sure most people going to see his directorial debut can extend quite a bit of goodwill for a project Harris states he's wanted to put on the screen for a decade.

My own patience was used up after 20 minutes when I realized there was no one on the screen that Harris either understood or admired. For instance, the scene where Pollock urinates in Peggy Guggenheim's fireplace during a New Year's Eve party left the audience with only one choice: To laugh. The individuals at the party were portrayed as worthy of such an act because they were snobs. And indeed scorn is heaped upon any institution that's portrayed in the film: Marriage, art criticism, artists, family relationships, filmmakers, friendships, loversÂ…. Everyone gets smeared here. I guess the dog comes off pretty well, but he's got a small part.

I can see why an actor would be drawn to this material. Jackson Pollock led a life that seemed destined for members of the Actor's Studio to portray. There are many, many opportunities to emote. But a film should be more than an essay on acting large. Scenes are held much longer than necessary; many are tedious or just baffling.

With the exception of Amy Madigan, the acting was a disappointment for me. Harris and Harden's performances seemed in different styles, primarily because Harris is almost vacant in presence unless he's smashing bottles or overturning dinner tables.

Spending so long working on this project, I felt like Harris had become so close to the material that he excluded the audience in what was crucial character information. How did he discover he liked to paint? What was his mysterious psychiatric diagnosis? Was he in a psychiatric hospital or a detox tank? What were the pills Krasner puts before Pollock? Were they helpful? Hurtful?

In general a screenplay that jumps back and forth in time using only placards like `Five years earlier' or `Two months later' signals an inherent weakness that a coherent narrative hasn't been developed.

It's too bad because there was a lot of effort here. There's surprising gracefulness in Harris' brushwork. But we don't know why the character--as an artist--is standing there and we don't see anyone truly moved by the result. We're told `Oh, that's wonderful,' but it's by characters who are neither trustworthy or have demonstrated they aren't sincere.

The most tiresome chestnut, that artists have to be ONLY artists and not functioning members of society, is the most glaring problem with the film. When Krasner screams, `We can't be parents, we're painters!' everyone sitting in the audience really knows `You can't be parents because he's an egomaniac and a drunk.' And I don't think that's a fair legacy for artists, particularly of Jackson Pollock's stature.

ccthemovieman-1 13 November 2005

Pollock fmovies. Jackson Pollock was not a likable person. He was an alcoholic, an adulterer, an egotist and simply a plain jerk. He also was a pioneer in the field of modern art, so he became famous and hence, even had this movie about his life.

Ed Harris, a jerk himself, was a good choice for the role. Harris, who looks like Pollock, did a fine job of portraying this "tormented" soul, a word critics love to use for famous artists (see Van Gogh).

This was an interesting film and I watched it twice. It inspired me to become an artist and I did a handful of Pollock imitations, several of which sold for a decent price. I love Pollock's work, and I enjoy character studies of people on film . But this gets a little sordid as the film goes on with a definitely-unhappy ending.

Hat's off to Marcia Gay Harden for her performance as Pollock's wife. She has the New York City accent down pat. She is shown worshiping her husband and it's painful to see her get hurt.

The story is a bit soap operish but if you enjoy art, and especially Pollock's work, you'll find this story fascinating. More than one look, however, changes the canvas, so to speak. The story, more than the art, then will come through more and that can be too much of a downer. So, visit this "art show" once and leave it at that.

Quinoa1984 2 March 2001

Ed Harris gives it his all and succeeds here, in his (fine) directorial effort. He portrays 40's and 50's painter Jackson Pollock, a man who drank too much, was often crazy about many things, but was a magnificent painter (depending on what you like). Marcia Gay Harden also stars as Lee Krasner, Pollock's guidance into the benign and all. Both Harris and Harden are exqusite here, earning well deserved Oscar nominations (Harris I think would win if it wasn't for Tom Hanks performance), with not much insight going into the method to Pollock's madness, but just his design, which is good in avoiding chiches. Painting scenes are some of the best scenes of last year. A

tgulotta 19 December 2000

While this film is flooded with holes in Pollacks short career, we do get a glimpse of his struggle and process. I was sorry that a few other notable artist that were a part of Pollacks art scene were not portrayed during this great period of time. Mark Rothko, Louise Nevelson and Robert Motherwell to name a few. Also, Pollack worked as a security guard at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York for a short time. This environment was partly responsible for exposing him to the dominant European invasion of art in America. I would have liked more in depth insights into why Pollack began painting and why he was so tortured. Ed Harris does a fine job with the material he was working with, but they could have covered more bases in Pollacks life and I know Harris would have stepped up to the plate.

In one scene Pollack is pacing back and forth in front of a large blank canvass. It is a stunning scene watching his shadow run along that large white surface waiting for the moment he would begin to paint. Another scene takes us to East Hampton where he is kneeling down out in the salt marshes staring into a tide pool. Just this pose alone suggests a precursor to removing the canvass from the wall and placing it on the floor.

There are a few quiet moments that capture the subtle Pollack and I wish they explored more in this direction. In so many of these artist portrayals the essence of the process and inspiration gets lost in the drama of their personalities.

However, this movie takes on an ambitious man and an ambitious time in American Art. I was grateful to have seen with my own eyes several Pollack shows over the years and to have studied and experimented myself with Abstract Expressionism.

I think Ed Harris and Marcia Gay Harden should be nominated for their incredible portrayals of these two great artists. Moreover, whether you know a great deal about Pollack, this film will allow you to glimpse into the life of Jackson, but it will also expose you to his wonderful partner, Lee Krasner.

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