Friday, April 16, 2010
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Friday, April 16, 2010
MOVIE REVIEW
Exit Through The Gift Shop
Art, In The Eye Of The Faux
Artiste?
Thierry Guetta plastering a poster of his alter ego Mr. Brainwash, on a building
in Los Angeles during the documentary "Exit Through The Gift Shop", which opened
in today in San Francisco.
Paranoid Pictures
By
Omar P.L. Moore/PopcornReel.com
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Friday, April 16, 2010
Ingenious, cheeky and satirical, "Exit Through The Gift Shop" is a highly
entertaining documentary. Proudly billed as "the world's first Street Art
disaster movie", the film begins by following world-renowned British graffiti
artist and mystery man Banksy, then does an abrupt u-turn and chronicles one of
Banksy's ardent followers, Thierry Guetta, a gregarious and unassuming fellow,
whose all-consuming passion is to videotape his idol and other famous artists at
work as they leave their provocative signature work (or mark their territory) on
buildings and walls around the globe.
Mr. Guetta may be described as one of the 21st century's first fast-food
reality-television-type artists. (Banksy himself may well agree with that
assessment.) In an era where the quickest and fastest (but not necessarily
the best) seem to prosper most in the realm of entertainment, Mr. Guetta's
seriousness and commitment alone appear tailor-made for stardom. The
documentary, which combines a man-about-town style with a factory of talking
heads, reveals a self-absorbed man sated by his creations but ever hungry for
more.
Banksy's deft handiwork is all over this engaging portrait of a man who lives
and breathes art, even if he doesn't seem to do anything remarkable with it.
Narrated in a deliberate and pretentious monotone by Rhys Ifans ("Greenberg"),
"Exit Through The Gift Shop" is a clever work of art in its own right as it
follows Mr. Guetta around the world and specifically traces his growth and
cult-like popularity as he evolves on the art stage as Mr. Brainwash.
The examination of Mr. Guetta is often very funny. Documentaries are
typically thought of as serious, thoughtful and contemplative works, and "Gift
Shop", which had its world premiere at Sundance in January, is all of those
things. Rarely however, are documentaries as hilarious as this one.
Self-mocking and irresistible if not gratuitous, "Exit Through The Gift Shop",
labeled "a Banksy film", is priceless.
Note: "Exit Through The Gift Shop" opened today in New York City, San Francisco,
Los Angeles, Berkeley, San Rafael and Palo Alto, California, and will make its
way around the U.S. and Canada in the coming weeks.
With: Shepard Fairey and glimpses of numerous celebrities you will readily
recognize.
"Exit Through The Gift Shop" is rated R by the Motion Picture Association Of America for
language. The film's running time is one hour and
27 minutes.
COPYRIGHT 2010. POPCORNREEL.COM. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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Read more movie reviews and stories from Omar
here.
Read Omar's "Far-Flung Correspondent" reports for America's pre-eminent Film
Critic Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times -
here
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