Carl Nargle, Vermont’s #1 public television painter, is convinced he has it all: a signature perm, custom van, and fans hanging on his every stroke… until a younger, better artist steals everyt...
A figure usually written off in novelty, Bob Ross has been a staple of television about as long as Mr. Rogers has; a painter whose calm nature, artistic inclinations, and optimism inspired thousands of painters after him and whom many still idolize as an important fixture of the 20th century. This movie, “Paint”, has nothing to do with him….but even taking into account how this film has all broad strokes with no point behind it, the very aura and specter of Bob Ross haunts this movie.
Starting with some light favorable elements, the production design is remarkably well done; using the strokes of burnt sienna, yellow ochre, and phthalo (azure) blue from Ross’ paintings as a visual aesthetic makes a solid attempt at formalism. The attempt is there to visually construct the framing and air of bemused satire it wants and the cinematography helps reflect that.
That only takes it so far though; while relatively short at 96 minutes, every other cog required to make this film work is devoid of focus, precision and meaning. Between not settling in on a tone and a direction that feels more condescending than passionate, Brit McAdams first directorial outing is one that feels very confused, absentee and utterly joyless. I don’t want to say the entire production comes off unfocused but when every other element that surrounds it comes across like that, it’s hard not to feel cheated out of a completed product.
I couldn’t care less about the musical score, soundtrack or costume design but I did end up caring about the pacing and how inconsistent it was; for a 90 minute movie, it sure did it’s job to suck the life out of you. Flashbacks are overused to tell a large part of the story that ended up thing both irrelevant and inconsequential, the anachronistic setting makes it next to impossible to immerse yourself into what time period it’s supposed to be in or appreciate whatever world-building is presented, further compounded by the so-so editing and it is comedically inert at every conceivable angle; only one time, I chuckled and even then, it’s all dead air.
All of the cast members are unfortunately rather boring and underwritten; even Owen Willson’s mumbling tranquil voice can’t make up for how little he’s given to do.
I spent the vast majority of my time watching the plot unfold, needlessly dissecting every aspect of the story and constantly struggling to understand why someone thought this direction was the right one to go in. As a peculiar parody meant to show the bowels of toxic male privilege and delusion, some bits of the puzzle did start coming together but not enough to where I could have a positive impression. Having the story centered around a character who lives life like it’s the 1970’s in the 2020’s had some sharp inklings surrounding it as its intentions seemed aimed at questioning the attitudes and personas of a previous era but while it touches on the idea of artists' lack of appreciation during their lifetime in the art world, the movie fails to fully delve into this concept. Now I can overlook it not wanting to take itself seriously but that’s just sort of the underlying issue with this plotline: things just sort of HAPPEN and they never really get resolved.
On top of that, Wilson’s striking resemblance to Bob Ross only further added to how confusing the world building is, as this was not intended as a biopic. While it’s possible to understand in spades why his character is structure the way he is, his out-of-touch ego and misogyny only gets more aggravating to stomach when you consider the annoying reality that every other woman in this movie, with the exception of Katherine, is strictly one-dimensional and have little to no agency. That fact that the few woman that are interesting aren’t given enough space or leeway to become fully engaging, only makes that intended story thread about crummy old men no longing running the workplace less noble than it was intended.
Yeah, there ain’t much to recommend with this one. If it were up to me, I’d say it be more worth it watching Paint dry but that is so in the nose and paper thin that it’s not worth finishing the joke.
