★★
There’s something off about Paint, an eccentric movie during which Owen Wilson channels his inside Bob Ross. The premise of the film is a straightforward one, attention-grabbing sufficient to string the viewers alongside, however too uneven to maintain them engaged. Author and Director Brit McAdams straddles the road between being actually bizarre and staying grounded, a flaw that offers Paint no room to develop. It’s continuously caught in limbo, a irritating identification disaster that hampers an in any other case attention-grabbing story.
Carl Nargle (Wilson) is Vermont Public Entry Tv’s number-one star. Each weekday, a whole bunch of individuals collect round their televisions and watch Carl’s hit present, Paint. As he spends his hour portray picturesque landscapes, his fanbase turns into mesmerized. His soothing tone and calm demeanor have virtually a super-human impact on the lots. With the station hurting for scores, his showrunner (and ex-lover), Katherine (Michaela Watkins), decides so as to add a further hour of Paint after Carl’s, solely this time with a brand new and recent artist, Ambrosia (Ciara Renée). Ambrosia’s model of Paint is a recent tackle the hit present, and the general public begins to solid Carl Nargle apart.
This story has been advised earlier than, a profitable artist previous his prime struggles to seek out his glory years. In a means, McAdams completely captures the tone and persona of Carl Nargle. Any time Wilson’s character graces the display, the viewers can’t inform whether it is 1978 or 2015. This permits the supporting solid to sprinkle in little hints that we are literally residing within the current day, and the joke normally lands effectively.
Though Paint appears to have loads going for it, the movie by no means ties itself collectively. There are numerous moments when McAdams virtually crosses the road into absurdity, one thing that may have been welcome on prime of the in any other case dry setting. By getting proper as much as that time, lots of the humor leaves the viewers questioning, “why?” as an alternative of really producing any laughs. It’s very clear the place McAdams wished this film to go, it simply by no means will get there.
For individuals who grew up watching Bob Ross on Public Entry, it is a must-see. It actually captures the tone of a few of these movies, particularly early on, and does a superb job satirizing the premise of a “native cable entry celeb.” But when the credit roll, viewers will undoubtedly really feel like one thing was lacking; Paint has coronary heart, comedy, drama, and romance, however doesn’t do any of those exceedingly effectively.
