To properly judge any body of work, the first relevant question to ask is; did the creator achieve the objective or vision that he originally sought after? As director and star of "Pollock," Ed Harris had the challenge of bringing this extraordinary character to life as well as telling his story. As you might have guessed, being a brilliant actor and a first time director, he"ll have to settle for one out of two. .
In the beginning, stumbling up a stairwell in the middle of the night, it is quickly established that abstract art legend Jackson Pollock suffered from a drinking problem. Soon after, Pollock met a painter in Greenwich Village, Lee Krasner (Marcia Gay Harden), who showed passionate interest in his artistic style and work. As the two became romantically involved, Krasner also began to take on the role as his manager. Krasner proved her devotion to Pollock by staying by his side no matter what the circumstance; even though time after time he was repeatedly in and out of being a crazy demented alcoholic. .
After marrying, the two isolate themselves by moving away from the city to Long Island, where Pollock seemingly contemplates his life as an artist. With growth and change comes a whole new artistic style; one that had never been seen or painted by anyone before. Ultimately, as Pollock reached the height of his success, he unfortunately turns to the bottle again and is met with an untimely death. .
"Pollock" is a hugely challenging subject for a first-time director, and Harris is most successful when it comes to his acting performance. However, Harris fails to produce a film worthy of awards. There is no doubt that it takes a tremendous amount of talent to accurately portray the disturbed artistic mastermind, which Harris brilliantly accomplishes. At times he is neurotic and of-the-wall, other times he isintense and powerful; Harris is frighteningly convincing as Pollock.