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How sad is this?

There are better movies of two hours length. I loved the actress'performance.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

I love Jackson Pollock art. And I love Ed Harris. So, I discovered the film as a challenge . And that is it. Because it is not, exactly, a film about art, a pure biopic or fresco of a fight of a genius. It is more. A perspective about Pollock like a confession. Or question. Direct, honest, little bitter. That is all.

Jackson Pollock (Ed Harris) is famous with a Life magazine cover in 1950. The movie flashes back to 1941. He's a drunk staying in Greenwich Village with his brother and pregnant wife. Artist Lee Krasner (Marcia Gay Harden) shows some interest and becomes his lover/supporter. His brother moves to Connecticut. Jackson breaks down which is why he can't be drafted into the war. Lee takes Jackson home acting more and more like his manager. His work eventually gains the attention of art collector Peggy Guggenheim (Amy Madigan) who gives him an one-man show in 1943. Lee and Jackson decides to move to a country house on Long Island away from the drinking and doing more work. His paintings are still not selling and then the Life article happens. Lee and Jackson have a roller-coaster relationship and then he has an affair with Ruth Kligman (Jennifer Connelly).Ed Harris directs a mostly straight forward biopic of Jackson Pollock with a few fascinating scenes of painting sessions. His directing style doesn't necessarily project Jackson mental breakdowns but his acting is able to bridge the gap. Ed Harris is not the most imaginative director visually but it is overcome by good actors doing good work. It is a good debut directorial effort.

Sitting through Pollock will test the limits of your patience. I admire Ed Harris for taking on the persona of such a complicated individual, but all I saw throughout the entire film was Ed Harris acting drunk and dripping paint. First, Harris was far too old at 49/50 to be playing a man we are supposed to believe is in his 30s and early 40s. Harris' performance was so overshadowed by his admiration for Pollock and his art that it marred the entire film. Marcia Gay Harden certainly deserved her Oscar for her performance as Lee Krasner--the most developed character in the film--but again, the actress was too old for the role. It is two hour biopic that barely touched the surface of a man's extremely complicated relationship with his family, friends, and the art world. A very disappointing film overall.

"Pollock" suffers the fate of many a biopic about famous artists. It makes the mistake of thinking that people who produce interesting art are by extension going to be interesting themselves, and they're so frequently not. Usually, they're messed up, but in the same old tired ways in which everyone else is messed up, and I leave a film like "Pollock" wishing I had just looked at some Jackson Pollock paintings instead of spending time in the man's head.But all that criticism aside, "Pollock" is a fairly accomplished film, and it's clear that director/star Ed Harris cared strongly about his subject. His performance is good, but by definition one-note and a bit obtuse, because Pollock himself was apparently those things. It's Marcia Gay Harden, in the obligatory and thankless suffering consort role that all biopics have, who gives the most impressive performance.Grade: B