Art-World Whirl
New comedy '(Untitled)' skewers Manhattan art scene
Who knew that director Jonathan Parker (Bartleby, The Californians) had such philistine exuberance in him? This very witty parody of the Manhattan art world boasts a cast of frauds, surrounding one serious but surly artist, Adrian (Adam Goldberg), a composer of dissonant music who gripes that “harmony was just a capitalist plot to sell pianos.”
This pure naïve falls into the clutches of a gorgeous but manipulative art-gallery owner (Marley Shelton, very good) who is currently representing Adrian’s brother (Eion Bailey). The brother does lucrative, if repetitive paintings of the kind safe for hospital lobbies.
Parker assembles a roster of screwy artists, including an interestingly cast Vinnie Jones as a mix of Damien Hirst and Jeff Koons. The fragrantly named Ptolemy Slocum plays a cracked minimalist, and the pleasing Lucy Punch plays an avant-garde clarinetist of Diane Keaton–worthy nervousness. (Untitled) has both point and heart.
The film is a real surprise from Parker, who has elevated himself out of the art-movie ghetto and into the kind of provocative comedy people used to expect from Woody Allen.
(Unrated; 90 min.)
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 Adam Goldberg and Marley Shelton in '(Untitled)'
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