Paint

My interest in this movie comes from watching the real guy when I was a kid right after Barney and friends, but when I looked up his name, Bob Ross, as it turns out this is not a biopic.

Owen Wilson tells a joke exploiting Ross' Posthumous fame on the internet that pokes fun of the concept that Joy of Painting consist of 40-year-old footage watched by like 3 or 4 generations who watched it as if though they were the 1st despite how outdated his fashion sense was for all the generations. Adding to the joke is the relevant concept of how fulfilling and addicting being famous to a handful of people (in this case the locals who watch Wilson's character on PBS somewhere in Maine) can make a person feel. An interesting idea about the levels of selling out vs. Being true to your art.

It was funny when I saw the trailer and I thought Wilson was playing Bob Ross and that the Joy of Painting guy used his statis as an artist to get laid. Its less funny now that I know it's not Bob Ross. I see what they are trying to do but it was not funny. Paint was good for some obvious puns that made me giggle but no solid laughs.

It was supposed to be one of those quirky films that made fun of the mundane but it was mundane without being interesting. It was very not interesting.

Not worth seeing.

What a dull drab for a wonderful opportunity. The director really fell flat and didn't deliver on story or character development. Mostly felt contrived with very little substance outside a few bits that are to indicate who this faux bob ross is as a character. If I had to summarize this film beyond that I would say they really let Owen down on this one. The cover image alone gets you excited, as if to say this is Owen's come-back piece. Instead he got burned and had to do what he could with a script that felt as if it was subjected to writer's block in the first few paragraphs of act one. All in all I wouldn't recommend this film to anyone.

Greetings again from the darkness. You might wonder how a low-key painter becomes ubiquitous, evolving into the source of pop culture references in everything from "Saturday Night Live" to "Family Guy" to recent horror film SMILE. Bob Ross hosted "The Joy of Painting" on public television from 1983 until 1994. His soft-spoken manner and ability to connect with the audience while finishing a painting in 30 minutes drew in many dedicated viewers and turned him into an unlikely celebrity (as did the internet). Writer-director Brit McAdams uses Bob Ross as inspiration for his first feature film.

Though it's certainly not a profile or biography of Ross, Owen Wilson's portrayal of Carl Nargle is part tribute and part caricature, and it seems that McAdams wanted to go the comedy route, despite most gags and punchlines landing as softly as Carl Nagle's signature sign-off, thanking viewers for finding that "special place.". Whereas Ross' whispery vocal seemed soothing, Wilson's is kinda creepy. The comedy never really lands for a few reasons, but mostly because we don't much care for Carl Nargle and his out-of-touch ego and misogyny ... although this isn't the fault of Wilson, who does his best with what he's given.

Carl Nargle's (a fictional character) painting show has been a long-time fixture on the Vermont PBS channel where he regularly creates landscapes featuring Mount Mansfield. His loyal audience ranges from the elderly at a senior citizen center to the frequenters of a local dive bar to the women drawn to Carl's calm nature and fold-out bed in the back of his custom van. The latter group includes his ex, Katherine (a criminally underutilized Michaela Watkins), who is also the program manager, and Carl's assistant Wendy (Wendi McLendon-Covey). His newest interest is the young intern Jenna (Lucy Freyer), who seeks to be the next to receive the gift of a painting, which Carl gives to each conquest. But times are changing for Carl. Station Manager Tony (Stephen Root) needs a ratings boost and seizes the opportunity by hiring Ambrosia (Ciara Renee) to bring in new painting blood. There is more to the competition between Carl and Ambrosia than painting and ratings and ego ... it extends to Katherine, generating an entirely new dynamic.

The film has a lackluster feel to it. While some would-be intriguing topics are broached, none of them are explored to the point of creating any real interest. As for the comedy, there is no energy or sharpness. It comes across as believing many punchlines and situations are funnier than they really are. Everything is just a little off ... doesn't quite work as comedy, satire, self-discovery, or drama. To top it off, the timeline is confusing. While no cell phones are present, it never gives off a strong enough vibe for us to place the era. There is simply no joy in this painting.

Opens in theaters on April 7, 2023.

When I first saw the trailer for this movie I thought it would be a Bob Ross semi-biographical movie. However, that is not the case. The only thing bob-ross related is the base charecter of Carl Nargle, and that he has a TV paint show. I accepted this and tried to enjoy the film, but in the end it it knows what it wants to be...but dosen't know how to get there.

First, the positives. It looks pretty good, with nice colors and wood tones but it is ruined sometimes with choppy editing. I did laugh a good amount of times, with all the actors commiting to the heartfelt funny tone. However, lots of the jokes didn't land as well due to poor comedic timing or just played out jokes. The base story is okay, but I have a lot of issues with it.

Like I said, it wants to be a heartfelt comedy about a painter who's golden days are dwindling due to issues in the past and present. They try to throw quirky side charecters in there, but they are really not fleshed out at all so they feel more like NPC's than charecters. The movie also dosen't really give enough time to the storylines that are the most important and dilly dally on other scenes that just feel odd. Why is everyone trying to have sex with Carl Nargle? And then, when the new painter comes in they all suddenly switch and despise him. They have some reason too, but that reason is really only explained once and never seen again. They just tried to mix every color to make a heartfelt painting, but ultimately it just feels confused. Also, the sound mixing is a little off.

In the end, I would not reccomend Paint. It's a movie, and you probably wouldn't be mad watching it, but you would definetly want your money back. It's neither here nor there, and that is what's so dissapointing. Have a great day.

I see how many people hate this movie and I was hesitant to watch Paint because of it, but I thoroughly enjoyed this comedy. I love the aesthetics of the log cabin soft rock side of the 70s and was fed a steady diet of PBS as a small child in the 80s. This was so relaxing to watch. Plenty of Dolly Parton and John Denver to listen to at the Cheesepot Depot.

I'm not a huge disciple of Bob Ross, though I do respect his memory, so I'm also not angry about a comedy making fun of a soft-spoken ladies man with flowered lapels and a white man afro. I really cannot understand being that upset about satire that was built around a certain type of 70s guy not necessarily Bob Ross himself, but okay.

This is one of those films I would watch again just because I found it strangely comforting.