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Click above to purchase "Pollock: Special Edition" at
amazon.com
Pollock
Special Edition
review by Zach B.
Rated R
Studio: Columbia/Tri-Star
Running Time: 123 minutes
Starring Ed Harris, Marcia Gay Pollock, Tom Bower,
Jennifer Connelly, Bud Cort, John Heard, Val Kilmer, Robert
Knott, David Leary, Amy Madigan, Sally Murphy, Molly Regan,
Stephanie Seymour, Matthew Sussman, Jeffery Tambor, Sada
Thompson, Nobert Weisser
Screenplay by Barbara Turner and Susan J.
Emshwiller
Based on the book "Jackson Pollock: An American Saga" by
Steven Naifeh and Geregory White Smith
Directed by Ed Harris
Retail Price: $26.95
Features: Audio Commentary with Ed Harris, Making-Of
Documentary, Charlie Rose Interview with Ed Harris, Deleted
Scenes, Filmographies, Production Notes Insert, Theatrical
Trailers. DVD-ROM: Weblink
Specs: 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen, English Dolby
Digital 5.1, English Dolby Surround, English Closed
Captions, English Subtitles, French Subtitles, Spanish
Subtitles, Scene Selections (28 Chapters)
Released: July 24th, 2001
Ed Harris makes his directorial debut with "Pollock", a
fascinating movie about the great American painter Jackson
Pollock. Harris does quite an impressive job with this
movie, as he creates and entertaining and wonderful drama
about the man's life and work. Harris originally became
really interested with the man after he read his biography
which his father gave him, and it took nearly a decade to
get the film made. It's great to see that Harris has had
such passion and strong feelings for Pollock, and it seems
the long time and effort to get the movie made really did
succeed.
So anyway, back to the actual movie. The film, as I said,
follows Jackson Pollock, the incredible and legendary
American painter. Throughout the course of two hours, we see
how he meets Lee Krasner (his future lover) and how she
pushes and helps Pollock's art rather then supporting her
own artwork. As the film goes along, tension builds between
the two as we see Pollocks' love for alcohol and how he is a
man filled with many insecurities. A lot of the times in the
film we see Pollock's rage and quick temper get the best of
him. While he does create some incredible art, Pollock ends
up going on a downward spiral of depression which leads to a
car crash.
The performances here are really effective and truly
heartfelt. As we all know, the big shock came at Oscar®
time during the year 2001 when Marcia Gay Harden picked up
her Oscar® for Best Supporting Actress, beating the
likes of Frances McDormand and the favored Kate Hudson. I've
liked Harden's roles in the past, and here she does an
incredible job and I was glad she won it. Her performance as
Krasner is intense and really dramatic, and she brings it to
life perfectly. I would even consider her role as a lead
one, but the Academy is crazy as always and picky about what
is what. The supporting players in this movie are good, but
there is not so much built on them. And of course, we have
Ed Harris himself, who does bear an eerie resemblance to the
late painter. I thought Harris was going to be an upset and
win the Oscar® too, but alas, he did not (don't get me
started on Crowe...). While I'll talk about Harris as a
director in a moment, his performance here is also intense
and incredible. He brings this tortured soul to life. His
gestures, his rage... just everything. The acting and
casting in this movie is downright brilliant.
Ed Harris makes his directing debut with this movie as I
previously mentioned, and he's a natural director. He has
had such a passion with Pollock for a long time, and it
shows on screen. The way he moves the camera and how he sets
things up is really nice. He has a good style and sets the
movie at a good pace, things go fast and we do get a gist of
what's going on and how the characters are. He shows
strengths, weaknesses... he does quite an amazing job for a
first time director. He really brings the story to Pollock
to life in a great way. I hope Harris will direct more in
the future.
My problems with "Pollock" are minimal. The script is
good with good development of the characters and nice, true
dialogue, but the main problem with this movie is its focus.
While I felt Harris set things up accordingly, often I felt
he focused too much on certain elements and too little on
others. More on his art would be nice, I guess, but he does
cover a good portion of his life. I think it needed more
balance. On a different note, the musical score by Jeff Beal
is fantastic and really catchy, it perfectly fits with
everything on screen.
Don't miss "Pollock". It's a wonderful bio drama complete
with great directing, fabulous acting and a lot of other
great portion as well. Harris is certainly an impressive
director, so if you missed this one in theaters, be sure to
check it out now. There's a lot to like here, as it does
paint an interesting portrait (pardon the joke) of an
interesting man. I'll even go as far as saying it's one of
the best biography films I've seen.
"Pollock" was shot in 1.85:1 widescreen and this
anamorphic presentation of it looks pretty impressive. I
heard the film was shot on a low budget, which would explain
why it doesn't look incredibly sharp compared to some other
films, but this is still a really impressive transfer that
took me by surprise. I did noticed some dirt and blemishes
here and there, but nothing that will really annoy anyone.
Edge enhancment is noticable which I found to be a bit
distracting. There is some grain but hues and fleshtones
looks natural as well as accurate. Black levels and detail
are great, but there's also some shimmering. Overally, a
pretty nice transfer that does not disappoint.
"Pollock" features some pretty great sound in the audio
material that really did surprise me considering the
material. The disc features an English Dolby Digital 5.0
track that I found to be surprisingly immersive. Jeff Beal's
score sounds good throughout the channels, while little
sounds such as footsteps and paint strokes sound great too.
There's some nice surrounds with cars driving too (and of
course, the tragic end). Some great audio all around, I was
surprised. An English Dolby Surround track plus English,
French and Spanish subtitles are included. Oh yes... English
closed captions too.
This special edition of "Pollock" is quite a treat. While
it's not as extensive compared to other Columbia/Tri-Star
special editions out there, it offers a great deal of
insight and a load of information on the making of the film.
Here is really a nice case of extras that are quality over
quantity. I was quite happy to see the materials that were
included on this disc and if you enjoyed the film, you
should really check out all the supplements to get more out
of the movie.
First off is an Audio Commentary with Ed Harris
which I was really happy to have on board. Harris is very
articulate and informative. He remembers names and locations
as he praises his cast and crew. He gives information on
Pollock himself, and talks a lot about making the film, his
choices and his experiences. Harris is very soft here and
while he is not always screen-specific, there is a lot, and
I mean A LOT of information to absorb about Pollock the man
and the movie itself. Harris provides a lot of details of
all aspects of the production, and we can really hear all of
his passion. This is a great commentary and one of the best
I've heard in a really long time. If you liked the movie or
interested in Pollock himself, do not miss this. It's worth
the time and it's a great, all-around listen. I can't praise
this commentary enough, it was quite refreshing to hear.
The Making-of Documentary lasts a good twenty-two
minutes, and is a better then usual documentary. The
documentary, entitled "Pollock Behind-The Scenes", features
clips from the movie, behind-the-scenes footage on the set
and a whole slew of interviews with Harris, producer Fred
Berner, Marcia Gay Harden, producer James Trezzer, Amy
Madigan and a few others. This documentary is broken down
into a few sections, and it gives it a nice touch. It even
has some stills, footage and information on the real Jackson
Pollock. It's not very promotional at all which I liked, and
it really focuses on the production, the passion Ed Harris
has for the movie and a lot of stuff. Don't miss it whatever
you do. A perfect way to make a documentary or featurette.
Charlie Rose Interviews Ed Harris lasts twenty-six
minutes, and it's a full chat between them that appeared on
one of Rose's episodes. I mentioned before how much I love
Rose as an interviewer. He's a smart guy and really gets
into the materials, and this is a very intelligent
conversation. There are clips from the movie, but Harris
basically focuses on how he got interested in the man,
making the movie and a whole lot of stuff. Harris is humble
and soft-spoken. A very good and informative interview. If
you don't have the time to listen to the commentary, you'll
get some of that in here.
There are Four Deleted Scenes. The sound isn't
great and video-ish non-anamorphic widescreen is pretty
terrible. Still, they are a nice watch and I don't know why
they were cut. Harris does not provide an optional
commentary, but these scenes are short and I felt all of
them added a lot onto the movie and the characters. The
scenes are "The Cedar Bar", "Lee's Painting" (great acting
from Harden here), "Infinity At My Fingertips" and "Stray
Dogs". Despite the horrendous quality, don't miss them.
Rounding the disc out are some Filmographies and
Theatrical Trailers for "Pollock" and "ThirtyTwo
Short Films About Glenn Gould" in full frame. Also, like
usual, Columbia/Tri-Star has provided some excellent Keep
Case Insert Production Notes. There's also a
Weblink for DVD-ROM users.
A fascinating and entertaining film, Harris' directorial
debut is a triumph in biography movies and acting. This is a
great DVD edition for a very good film, so don't miss it!
 (4/5 - NOT included in
final score)
(4/5)
(4/5)
 (2.5/5)
(4/5,
NOT an average)
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