Review of Art and Craft (2014) by Matt H — 28 Jan 2015

T times rather bland, at other times pretty interesting, Art and Craft is a mixed bag documentary about a unique individual who spends his life pretending to be someone he's not. With someone as fascinating as Mark Landis as a subject, you'd think this film would be more interesting than it is, but it didn't really work for me as well as it did for others. Directors Becker and Cullman walk a thin line between mocking this man, who clearly has some kind of disability, and highlighting him as someone to be admired, since he's a forger.

For me it never found a consistent tone that I could get on board with. Landis is very interesting to watch, because he is so strange, but at the same time, he can be very tiring to spend time with, because he is so grating. I'm not sure that Becker and Cullman could have done much different, I think it's just the nature of Landis' personality. Some of the forgery parts worked pretty well, but not enough to hold my interest throughout.

I didn't hate my journey with Landis, but I can't really recommend it either.