Bob Ross deserves higher.
The chipper artist identified for his bushy ‘do and “joyful bushes” is the clear inspiration for “Paint.” The Owen Wilson comedy finds the star enjoying a Ross stand-in, right down to that mighty perm, who watches his public TV empire collapse.
Viewers by no means received to know the true Ross, who died at 52 in 1995 however has loved a posthumous profession bump. This model, even performed by the avuncular Wilson, is a cad who doesn’t deserve our consideration.
Don’t inform that to the workforce behind “Paint,” which desires us to care about his potential redemption.
Thanks however no thanks.
Wilson performs Carl Nargle, a PBS celebrity identified for bringing viewers to a “particular place” along with his generic landscapes. His boss (the nice Stephen Root) adores him … and his scores. The feminine PBS staffers swoon at his each brush stroke.
He’s a girls’ man who drives a van geared up with a pull-out couch. That’s his true particular place.
Life is sweet for Carl till the station hires a new artist to bulk up its lineup. Ambrosia (Ciara Renee) is younger, perky and prepared to color something, just like the occasional UFO. The movie’s scattershot screenplay exhibits her aesthetic decisions stunning Root’s station supervisor and longtime Nargle followers, however her scores rapidly outpace Carl’s.
Huh? Well, “Paint” wants her prompt success to berate Carl’s antiquated methods – he’s a chauvinist who beds any worker in his orbit – and lack of expertise.
Writer-director Brit McAdams punishes Carl in each conceivable means, half of a woke mindset that infiltrates too many trendy filmmakers. He’s a jerk, a self-absorbed phony who clings to the dream of his work showing on the native artwork museum.
Down with the Patriarchy … even when it upends the film itself.
“Paint” seems to be set in the early ‘80s, however many of the time cues beg to vary. The station’s expertise is antiquated, and we see rotary telephones in use. Yet at one level a character requires an Uber.
If the pile-up of anachronisms is intentional, it doesn’t serve the story, or us, properly.
We’re additionally handled to a random identical-intercourse romance which makes little sense in the confines of the story.
But range!
Carl could also be a womanizer, however these days he needs he didn’t sabotage his past love (Michaela Watkins), who had a fling throughout their marriage that Carl couldn’t forgive. Their bond is supposed to hold the movie, however it’s so poorly conceived it does no such factor.
That leaves some mildly amusing moments surrounding Carl’s fame and many of time to indicate his bloated ego being punctured.
Again and once more.
The movie properly wraps in 95 minutes, however the last 10 drag on, with a postscript that lacks the emotional punch meant. In reality, it feels disconnected from every part up till that time.
Audiences by no means received to know the person behind the “Joy of Painting” collection. “Paint” tries to fill that hole in a means that might make the Ross property lawyer up.
The relaxation of us will mourn how a popular culture icon is handled so shabbily with out sufficient humor or grace to grease the storytelling skids.
HiT or Miss: “Paint” does a disserve to greater than Bob Ross’ legacy. It offers Owen Wilson one of the least flattering gigs of his in any other case stellar profession.
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