Review of Pollock (2000) by Carlos R — 04 Sep 2010

Reporter: How do you know when you're done with a painting?".

Jackson Pollock: How do you know when you're done making love?".

The consensus I tend to see here is that many people don't really think this film gives an intimate view of who Jackson Pollock really is. I respectfully disagree.

Yes, Pollock fits the stereotype of the alcoholic, temperamental, self-doubting, self-destructive artist, but there's a reason so many artists can be lumped under this stereotype and that is because that is exactly who they are. This is who Pollock who was. Is there a depth there that usually isn't explored in these biographies though? Yes. But here, Ed Harris and his screenwriters give us several intimate moments to understand who Pollock is. A couple that stand out are, first, the fight he and Lee have towards the latter part of the film where he brings up, in vehemence, the fact that if they had had a child things might be better than they are now; second, the glance between him and Lee at the art exhibit (the climax), and most especially his begging a veterinarian to save a dog he has found hit on the side of the road. The emotional impact of each scene allows small insides into the sadness of who Jackson Pollock was.

Ed Harris and Marcia Gay Harden both delve themselves into these real-life lovers and the chemistry is at times awing in its simpleness and other times heartbreaking (the fight). The dramatic heft of the two performances, the in-depth look at Pollock's artistic process as a main portion of the narrative, along with a beautiful, creative score from Jeff Beal and impressive camerawork from Harris (the scene where Pollock is standing in the field and the surroundings curve around both us and Pollock, while Lee's note to him is being narrated, is the most inspired technical moment of the film), makes this film quite intriguing even though it's told in the tradition of celluloid biographies.