News tips and press releases may be sent
to editor at hollywoodinvestigator.com.
All submissions become property of the Hollywood Investigator and
deemed for publication without compensation unless otherwise
requested. Name and contact information only withheld upon request.
Prospective reporters should research our
Bookstore.
by Thomas M. Sipos,
managing editor [February 10, 2018]
[HollywoodInvestigator.com]The first thing
that caught my eye about
My Art is that it features Parker Posey, but it turns out she's
barely in it. She has two scenes, totaling at most two minutes of
screen time.
Posey is remarkable. When she made My Art she
was around 47, plays a woman of 40, and looks 30. Then there's that
wonderful Posey persona, which infuses all her characters. Too bad her
role is so slight.
The star of
My Art is Laurie Simmons, and in
it, she plays an artist. That's important to know, because Simmons
is an actual artist and not an actress. In her mid 60s, she has barely any acting
credits.
My Art is Simmons's vanity project. She wrote, directed, and
stars in
My Art.
An artist, playing
an artist, in the art world.
My Art has "art film" written all over
it.
Simmons's
character, Ellie, has labored as an artist for many decades, but has yet to
achieve fame. She supplements her art income as an art teacher and
house sitter, sitting for artists more famous than her.
We open with
Ellie conversing with Meryl (Lena Dunham), a more successful, and much younger, artist.
Meryl chatters about her exciting, hectic life. Lots
going on. I got the sense that Ellie feels a failure. She has
nothing very interesting to tell Meryl about her own life, other than
that she will be house-sitting for yet another famous artist (Blair
Brown).
After Meryl leaves,
Ellie sits alone in an empty, outdoor setting. It felt very
bleak. This is partially due to Tom Richmond's arresting
cinematography. Some very nicely lit and strikingly composed shots in
this film, further supported by the painstaking production design.
My
Artlooks like an art film.
But the story is
slow and meandering. I was bored twenty minutes in, a boredom
that occasionally lessened but sometimes returned. The film is low on
conflict and drama. It's a "slice of life" and Ellie's life isn't
all that interesting. For most of the film she house-sits
at a big, beautiful house in upstate New York, in a small town full of artists,
writers, and actors. Things are very quiet. The setting is bucolic.
The people are friendly.
Along the way, Ellie meets
three men, two of whom are "actors" who are really landscapers. Some
of the dialog actually centers on whether an actor who doesn't act can call himself an actor. These men help
Ellie on her latest
art project. Everyone grows a bit as a result. There's some sadness
along the way, and some happy moments. The film ends without any
significant life changes or epiphanies. It ends on more of a smile
than a hurrah.
The smile is that Ellie's art project is well received. She doesn't
attain any great fame, but perhaps a pat on the back. Ellie is in her
60s, and two of the men are no spring chicks. One man is a widower
whose acting was derailed by the death of his wife. Another man is
thrice divorced. All three of the men gain some satisfaction in having
helped Ellie. If
My Art has a theme, it's that it's never too late to achieve
something in life, even if that something falls short of your youthful
ambitions.
My Art is a tale of Late Bloomers.
My Art
also profiles the culture and lifestyles of the northeast, liberal
elite, Jewish/WASP arts crowd. The sort whose life revolves around
The New York Times
and
The New
Yorker. Always talking about their marriages, divorces, therapists,
careers, doubts, creative projects, and angst. Much angst. Set amid the splendor of New York's genteel fame and
wealth (as opposed to Hollywood's crass fame and wealth), which some
attain and others only hover about. The wine & cheese parties, the
self-involved friends more famous than you, the banal chit-chat about
gallery openings, book signings, and theater projects. It's all a bit
Woody Allenish.
In some ways,
My
Art reminded me of
The Anniversary Party (another
Posey film), but without the drama or hysteria. That's because
The
Anniversary Party is set in Los Angeles, whose creative crowd is more
vulgar and melodramatic than New York's artists, at least as portrayed
in films.
"Hollywood Investigator" and
"HollywoodInvestigator.com" and "Tabloid Witch" and "Tabloid
Witch Award" trademarks are currently unregistered, but pending
registration upon need for protection against improper use. The idea of
marketing these terms as a commodity is a protected idea under the
Lanham Act. 15 U.S.C. s 1114(1) (1994) (defining a trademark
infringement claim when the plaintiff has a registered mark); 15 U.S.C.
s 1125(a) (1994) (defining an action for unfair competition in the
context of trademark infringement when the plaintiff holds an
unregistered mark). All content is copyright by
HollywoodInvestigator.com unless otherwise noted.
[HollywoodInvestigator.com] 
