Review by Sees All

I enjoyed this movie, but I doubt that many other people will. As a New Yorker who has worked in the arts, I know something about the milieu and the people depicted, so I had the background to appreciate it. But to most people, I think, it will be unintelligible. Basically, the situation is that a young and inexperienced would-be artist ("James") is hired to be an assistant to elderly surrealist Salvador Dali (Ben Kingsley), once an enfant terrible of the art world, now generally regarded by the cognoscenti as a has-been and a hack, despite being known and loved by the hoi polloi and a darling of the paparazzi. The assistant's duty is to keep Dali working. Dali is easily distracted by the constant bohemian circus going on around him. Dali's wife Gala (well-played by Barbara Sukowa) is really the one who pulls the strings. She collects and counts the money. She is also a horny old lady with a taste for beautiful young men. James (who is indeed a beautiful young man) is warned NOT to sleep with her and NOT to offend her. Dali, it turns out, doesn't really engage in sex himself. He is basically a voyeur and a masturbator. But he adores and depends on Gala. Gala's current paramour is an actor named Jeff Fenholt, who is playing the title role on Broadway in JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR. There are other issues going on, like forgery and fraud, and money-laundering. It ought to be more interesting. But it's not. I think the main reason it doesn't work is that it's unstructured. Virtually everything is given the same weight. What's important doesn't stand out, but blends in with the scenery. Acting (especially Sukowa, Kingsley, and Chris Briney as James), art direction, cinematography, and music are all excellent, but who cares?