A while ago I read this NY Times review of the movie Beautiful Losers, in it, the Times completely pans-and-makes-fun-of the movie, the artists, and the director.
Normally (as readers of this blog certainly know), I take the Times as my Bible. But in this instance, (granted only after watching an 8 minute preview) I think the review is less about the movie and the art, and more a snarky comment on people who’ve been able to function outside of the NYC art machine.
That’s not to say it’s a conscious decision on the part of reviewer, Nathan Lee. But its easy to imagine that as a writer in the NYC milieu, Lee has struggled for years with deadlines, editors, and younger writers nipping at his heels in order to secure a contributing post over at the Times (though according to his bio, his work has also appeared in Esquire, Slate, Salon, Filmmaker, and Out among other publications), he might view with umbrage, exasperation, and a soupçon of jealousy, the achievements of skaters and graffiti writers--and the fun they seem to have while doing it.
Judging from the tone of the trailer, it seems that the movie, is less a diatribe or highly romanticized dreck (Modigliani, the movie leaps to mind), and more of an honest look into working artists’ lives. As a trope, honesty works...and if in the process, people are “super-nice,” that works too.
Here’s hoping the movie comes within driving distance of Jacksonville.
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