(Untitled) (2009)

A comedy about contemporary art? My goodness, that is an exciting prospect. (Untitled) stars Adam Goldberg as misunderstood sound artist Adrian Jacobs, whose bizarre atonal music alienates his peers. His brother Josh (Eion Bailey) is an artist as well, painting friendly, unassuming abstract works of the type generally hung in hospitals, hotels, and office buildings. Josh is dating the standoffish but passionate gallery owner Madeleine Gray (Marley Shelton), who sells his work out of the back room and shows controversial, up-and-coming artists like the Damien Hirst-ish Ray Barko (Vinnie Jones) in her show space.

She becomes intrigued by Adrian and his off-kilter music, and they start sleeping together. She also gets him a commission with wealthy and clueless geek millionaire Porter Canby (Zak Orth), who's been purchasing whatever expensive contemporary art he finds to build a collection and make himself look cultured. As Adrian and his collaborators work on the new composition, his bass clarinet player (Lucy Punch) is clumsily romanced by Porter. As Josh becomes frustrated with Madeleine's continuing refusals to exhibit his work in her gallery, he may also begin to catch on to her relationship with his brother.

Ok so right away I will state that I am quite sure this movie will not appeal to a large audience. It centers on a niche subject and a lot of the comedy or interesting dialogue comes out of a certain awareness of that subject. That being said, I am thrilled to see a movie that is almost completely about art- its process, its concepts, its controversies, and its effects on both artists and appreciators. I don't think I've ever seen anything like that before- art-related movies are usually more about an artist's life or focusing on something other than fine arts (theater, film, music, etc). Almost every conversation deals with art in some way, humorously but also honestly. I enjoyed listening to Madeleine's opinions about the artists she dealt with; yes, she's a little overzealous, but she obviously is knowledgeable, thoughtful, and truly passionate about the work she shows.

Much of the comedy comes from the ludicrousness of various art works (Adrian's experimental, un-enjoyable sound stylings, Ray Barko's cheeky taxidermied figures, "Monroe"'s ultra-minimalist found objects) and the artists' personalities (Barko's seething egotism, Monroe's social awkwardness, Josh's persistent "vision"). It's fun to see these sorts of exaggerated art styles and figures blown out of proportion, ripping away layers of pretension to reveal the silliness underneath. At the same time, issues facing today's working artists and their means of expression are discussed intelligently. Even though I didn't like his work, I wanted Adrian to succeed because he believed in it so much. And even though it was bullshit, I could see the Duchampian aspects of Monroe's everyday post-it notes and thumbtacks stuck to the wall. There were a lot of "but is it art?" undertones.

The actual story is pretty empty, with not much really happening except for the half-hearted love triangle, Adrian's job experiences, and Madeleine's gallery troubles. What it lacks in plot, it makes up for with great dialogue and visual gags, and an excellent cast. I dig Marley Shelton and Adam Goldberg a lot, and found Zak Orth pathetically hilarious. Lucy Punch is adorable and probably the most likable, but isn't in it enough (also her character plays bass clarinet, an instrument I totally play. Rad). As someone very interested in art (both its cultural implications and the act of making it), I found (Untitled) to be uniquely charming. I don't think you need to be any kind of art connoisseur to enjoy it (it's pretty funny either way), but I know that I probably liked it more than most people because of my personal connection to its subject.

4/5