Review of My Kid Could Paint That (2007) by Eric F — 21 May 2008

"The whole story, really, is about grown ups. It's really not about this kid. She's just a little girl - painting in her house.".

Mark Olmstead explains with confidence that one day his daughter, Marla, grabbed a brush alongside him and started painting on the canvas. Years later, she's raking in hundreds and thousand of dollars for her abstract art. Some kid - a prodigy, a virtuoso... right? Well, that's what the movie is about.

The film starts off introducing us viewers to the paintings of Marla Olmstead. She's compared to Jackson Pollock in her incredibly abstract and colorful works. As Marla continues to gain fame and fortune, her family questions whether or not this is good for a child. It reminded me of "Who the &$#$ is Jackson Pollock?", a documentary from 2006, which also showed your average person in the ludicrous world of modern art. It's absolutely fascinating. Although the art world is displayed with class, we also see that it can be an incredibly arrogant, pretentious, and absurd world.

Shortly thereafter an episode of 60 Minutes calls Marla's art into question. She's filmed painting a piece that seems, well, ordinary for a child. So, were these the works of her father, Mark? Is she just a chess piece in this elaborate con?

The ironic part of the film is that even if these were the works of Mark Olmstead, they would be dismissed as a complete fraud and garbage. However, the minute Marla's name is attached, they're masterpieces. What an absurd world.

This film is a completely engaging and thrilling experience. In fact, it's almost like watching your typical crime thriller film... there's twists and turns lurking around every corner, and you get to the point where you're watching the characters waiting for something and someone to give. It's incredibly fascinating. As the story progresses, director Bar-Lev has grown close to the family and doesn't want to exploit them. He becomes a character in himself and it provokes an entirely new morale dilemma in the film.

I thought this was nearly perfect, but I did think a few things were questionable. For one, I thought Bar-Lev's presence on-screen disconnected me from the film. It was no longer an observation from the eye of the director, now the audience was completely an outsider. At times it was interesting, but at other times it almost seemed indulgent or masturbatory. Also, the film is ambitious to the point where at times it's almost jumbled... there's so many questions asked that the focus of the film is sometimes lost in all the scuffle.

That being said, there's not many more documentaries as engaging, profound, and thorough as this one. You'll want to rewatch it the second it's over. It's a fascinating look into the modern art scene, the relationship between subject and director, and parenthood.