Ed Harris, director and star of Pollock, wanted to immerse himself in his latest character's life and mindset - one of depression and rage - before portraying him on the screen.
"I wanted to be Ed Harris using all of his tools as an actor and as a person to allow Pollock's experience on this earth to touch me, inspire me, lead me to an honest performance." Use of the third person aside, Harris does just that in this biographical movie about Jackson "Jack the Dripper" Pollock.
The story of Jackson Pollock begins in 1941 when he is living with his brother and is virtually unknown outside of the inner art circle of forties New York. Soon, he moves in with Lee Krasner (Best Supporting Actress Nominee Marcia Gay Harden), another struggling artist. She takes Pollock under her wing and introduces his work to an emissary working for Peggy Guggenheim. Pollock's reputation rises turbulently and quickly, as evidenced by a Life magazine headline in 1949 that readd: "Jackson Pollock: Is he the greatest living painter in the United States?"
Despite the fame, though, his life is plagued by alcoholic rages, self-hatred and manic-depression, all of which ultimately bring him down.
His wife stands by him, tending to his life outside the realm of painting. She had entered the marriage knowing full well Pollock's erratic, and sometimes violent tendencies. Nonetheless, she supports him, helps him, and encourages him to release himself to his art and avoid the drink.
The main strength of the film is Harris' ability to beautifully portray Pollock's pain, as well as the salvation that painting provides him with. Pollock was a man of extremes who possessed the rare ability to release his frustrations, rage, and sadness through art. He could barely stand being a human being, yet created some of the most lasting art of his time. When not painting, he attempted to escape his pain through drinking, which ultimately destroyed him and his relationships.
Harris has seemingly devoted himself to the film with the same fervor Pollock devoted to painting. If one word could describe Harris' performance, it would be "intense." He channels Pollock's energy throughout the film, staring intently at the canvas before beginning to apply paint.
Despite all of this - the solid acting, smooth and subtle directing, and an intriguing subject - the film is missing some crucial element, some deeper feeling to the material. Pollock rants and raves, paints and cries, but the film often feels like a stiff, factual biography. Through years of work, Harris and others on the film may have created a product that is too careful, too neat.
The film never ventures into the source of Pollock's problems or emotions. He rages, drinks, and cycles through manic-depression, but the film is never sentimental or judgmental about the man. It occasionally feels like the same tortured artist seen many times over.
Jackson Pollock was an intense, creative, emotional man, and Pollock is an intense, interesting, well-executed film. At the same time, however, it is rarely engaging or emotional. The film is missing an essential core of emotion, and the audience may not come away with any real glimpse into Pollock, or have any true feeling for the man. Jackson Pollock has been called "an artist dedicated to concealment, a celebrity who nobody knew." This movie does nothing to change that.
Pollock, 3.5 stars.
