Local Color (2006)

Sorry, could not get into this film as it was poorly told, and in its selection of the lead actor who portrayed the actual young artist. The kid in the lead was so not an artist type and showed it though very amateurish "acting" and "typical modern dude" body language. In addition, too many of the film's production values in the 20 minutes I watched were poorly and cheaply done..... The old artist's rickety front door in one closeup shot was obviously a prop as it's frame shook violently whenever the door closed.... The purposefully filthy car windows when the rest of the kid's car was clean..... The kid's odd gift to the old artist of a bottle of vodka when it was obvious he was not old enough to buy it..... The look and body language of a typical high school teenager of today was so incongruous with the true behavior and look of the type of boy in the early 70s who hungered and worked with all his soul to be a true and honest artist more than anything else in life. Details are crucial to an artist, but this filmmaker didn't care enough to honor that need for gravitas in his film. Plus out-of-place profanity, cliché characters and dialogue.......on and on. Not for me. This was not the well crafted film I expected about a dedicated young artist's search for soul-satisfying self expression. It was ordinary, unskilled and uninteresting.Cannot agree with the superlatives given by some of the other reviewers, as it seems to me they saw a different movie that the one I briefly watched. If a story of something I know a lot about cannot grab my attention and credibility in 20 or so minutes, no thanks.

The most important thing to know about this movie is it is unusually boring. I kept waiting for it to end. The curtain came down, the music soared, then it took off again, over and over and over, like some spoof of a Beethoven symphony endlessly ending.It mocks art and art critics with straw men situations, that might have been concocted by Archie Bunker. For example, Ron Perlman plays an obnoxious screaming queen art critic who mistakes the paintings of retarded children for high art. An artist displays an empty frame and slings BS about the deep inner meaning of its flatness.The plot: A young man with a rabidly homophobic father invades the home of a reclusive alcoholic artist demanding to be taught to paint. The artist lets him in, but just leaves him to paint. They snipe at each other, for what feels like weeks even though the movie fits on one DVD.The dialogue is nausea-inducing e.g. "clouds are where angels hide", "follow your dream".

Once in a while a film comes along that gives you hope in humanity and in the ability of the film industry to really say something meaningful. George Gallo (Director/Writer) uses the voice of an experienced older man, who is a master artist, to express his feelings to a young artist about his views of life and art, which equals the wisdom of an experienced sage. With lines like, "True art is beautiful," "True art really says something," and "An atheist can't paint true beauty," the movie is filled with profound wisdom. Although Seroff obviously believes in God, he is anything but self-righteous. He drinks vodka and uses profanity to prove a point. Much of his wisdom comes from the loss he has suffered, both from people he loved and the opinions of critics who know nothing truly about life or great art. The young artist, John, is a special soul who knows what he wants to be and is an older soul than his father, who tries to stifle his son's sensitivity and creative genius. Every aspiring painter or musician or artist of any kind needs to see this film.

"Local Color" is a wonderful gem of a film with powerful themes, complex characters who struggle with their fears and shortcomings, and a story that anyone who has ever felt intimidated by their dreams while at the same time wanting so badly for them to come true can relate to. The film draws you in gently, makes you laugh, makes you feel the longing and frustration of the characters, and takes you along a beautifully realized and genuinely heartfelt journey of self-discovery. The lead character is faced with many difficult challenges as he struggles to become a respected painter, but as the film progresses he finds his voice and the ability to confidently express his feelings on canvas. He is awkward at first, and wholly relatable in his fumblings, but by the time he finds the courage to paint with conviction, the audience soars with him. A wonderful film!