Available to stream now on Netflix
Writer/director Dan Gilroy's "Velvet Buzzsaw" dives in to the art world and reveals not only the colorful denizens who inhabit that scene but a dark undercurrent that leads to murder. Yet the killer is not a tangible presence but the art itself which is behind these unusual deaths. If that sounds kinda of odd and preposterous, the film is not really able to alter that opinion too much. This surreal satire tries to make a commentary on the corruption in the buying and selling of art while driving a deadly and eerie element to the story. But despite some intriguing ideas and an impressive cast, "Velvet Buzzsaw" is a creation that is unable to fully communicate it's peculiar concept.
Our story begins during Art Basel in Miami with Jake Gyllenhaal playing Morf Vandewalt, a powerful L.A. art critic. In his professional life, Morf displays confidence and enjoys wielding his clout however his personal life is much more unstable and erratic. While not exactly sexually fluid yet bored with his boyfriend, he finds himself drawn to his female friend, Josephina (Zawe Ashton) and they begin an intimate relationship. Back home in sunny Los Angeles, she works as an assistant for Rhodora Haze (Rene Russo), a former member of the rock-band, Velvet Buzzsaw and now an influential and ruthless gallery owner.
One day in her apartment building, Josephina finds her elderly neighbor has died in the hallway. His name was Vetril Dease and had requested that all of his possessions be burned. Curious, she enters his apartment to discover hundreds of his paintings which are beautiful yet highly disturbing. She steals all of the art but unsure what to do with it. However, once Morf and Rhodora see the work, they know exactly what to do.
Rhodora displays the paintings at her gallery and they become an instant success. People become completely mesmerized by this work including fellow artists Damrish (Daveed Diggs) and Piers (John Malkovich). And this is when we begin a supernatural detour when the viewers of the art become a victim of the art. The first to fall is Bryson (Billy Magnussen), an electrician for the gallery and aspiring artist. Rhodora insists on hiding some of Dease's painting to inflate their value and has him store some of the art in a warehouse. However, Bryson has other plans and takes off with these paintings only to meet a creepy and gruesome demise.
Other strange deaths occur to members in the small art community and Morf, after researching Dease's background to discover that he had an abusive childhood and expressed his growing mental illness through his paintings, begins to make a connection between this art and these unnatural casualties.
After years as a successful screenwriter, Mr. Gilroy made his debut as a director with "Nightcrawler" in 2014 which also starred Gyllenhaal and Russo. This well-received feature (which earned Gilroy a nomination for Best Original Screenplay) examined the seedy world of freelance photojournalists and feeding the hunger for scandalous news no matter the cost. His follow-up was the less admired, "Roman J. Israel, Esq." that featured Denzel Washington in his Oscar-nominated role as an idealistic defense lawyer lacking certain social skills who was determined to fight for the poor and disadvantaged.
With "Velvet Buzzsaw", Mr. Gilroy continues his exploration in to the darker side of humanity but this frantic script is surprisingly muddled. The plot shifting from quirky drama to cheesy horror is just odd and clunky. We are never given any real understanding of why (or how) this vengeful art has set out to kill these unpleasantly superficial yet still innocent people. And the grisly murders themselves are predictable and not particularly frightening.
Thankfully, the actors involved are fully committed, helping to make this comedic frightfest more interesting than it deserves. Even playing a smarmy and whiny art critic, Mr. Gyllenhaal still impressively manages to bring some charm and sex appeal to the role. The appearance of the always fascinating Ms Russo (who just happens to be married to Mr. Gilroy) is a reminder that her gifts are not being currently utilized enough on the big screen. We also have Tom Sturridge as a rival gallery owner and Toni Collette as an art curator who briefly adds some interesting colors to the film.
As we know, all art is highly subjective. Some viewers will find "Velvet Buzzsaw" to be a witty and experimental satire on the terrors in the world of art. While others may only see the movie to be a banal concoction of parody and horror offering cheap thrills and even cheaper scares. I appreciated what Mr. Gilroy was trying to create but "Velvet Buzzsaw" lacks a cohesive structure to make his bold vision actually satisfying.
No comments:
Post a Comment