Owen Wilson stars as public-television instructional painter Carl Nagle in "Paint."
Slap the name Owen Wilson on the marquee and moviegoers will feel like their quirky brother-in-law is coming to town. And with Wilson's signature style – his surfer-dude persona, slow drawl (he is from Texas) and distinct off kilter nose (there's a Twitter account @itsowensnose), his charisma can make a movie.
Such is the case with "Paint," director and writer Brit McAdams' oddball comedy with Wilson as Carl Nargle, Vermont’s No. 1 public television painter whose ego is as big as his oversized perm.
While he resembles the "Joy of Painting" creator Bob Ross, whose PBS series aired from 1983 to 1994, the few things McAdams' creation of Nargle has in common with the infamous Ross is a whisper-calm delivery and his penchant for showing his viewers the simplest way to paint landscapes.
Carl Nagle (Owen Wilson) is a local TV celebrity with a sofa bed in back of his "vantastic."
Nargle is a pipe-smoking womanizer who captivates everyone from two daytime barflies to a group of assisted living patients who can't wait to tune in. But Nargle's fame has gone to his head and when the station's manager says he wants two hours of "Paint with Carl Nargle," the diva says no.
So it's time to freshen up the paint with a new diva.
Introducing "Paint with Ambrosia," a young woman of color (Ciara Renée) who'll follow Nargle's show.
There's satire aplenty in "Paint" and it shows up here as Ambrosia starts off painting in the same vein as Nargle but her landscape turns dark as she adds a UFO and drips it in blood.
Not only does she steal Nargle's thunder, but also his ex-girlfriend, Katherine, the station's assistant general manager, exceptionally played by Michaela Watkins.
Ambrosia sets her sights on Katherine who is flattered by the attention. "I've never slept with a woman," she loudly exclaims on the way into Ambrosia's house. The embarrassment comes off as homophobic when she is especially shocked when she realizes the new on-air paint teacher shares the house with her parents who are within earshot of her exclamation.
Like the UFO McAdams has the character Ambrosia paint, the writer-directors handling of a woman of color and her sexuality is alien. Mostly, it's cringe-worthy. She's a gay Black woman who flirts and then beds her boss. After that roll in the hay with Katherine is over, she ends up having sex in the back of her car with another female employee who throughout the film is portrayed as the TV station's resident drunk.
McAdams is more comfortable with the male side of things as he lays on the humor and satire about small-town fame and a guy stuck within his own 2-by-4 dimension of life; there's little depth to Carl except for when we find that the artist wants to leave a real legacy and more than just landscapes. He wants to be alongside some greats at the Burlington Museum of Art.
The latter half of the movie plays so much better than the first as it parodies the excess of the art world and other too-good-to-give-away nuggets. (Let's just say that his Jackson Pollack-esque turn of events in a barn is worth waiting for if you can slog through the first part of the film, the second half redeems itself.)
Lucy Freyer as Jenna, Owen Wilson as Carl Nargle, Stephen Root as Tony and Michaela Watkins as Katherine in "Paint."
"Paint" tries to tap into the satirical roots of Wes Anderson films but never quite hits the mark. Remember that Wilson's career started out as co-writer to Anderson for the 1994 short film "Bottle Rocket," and then remade as a feature-length film two years later. For those who find Anderson's satire understatedly funny, the same might be said for "Paint," but that's a reach.
Don't expect a Bob Ross bio-pic: this is a Wilson vehicle through and through; the actor chews up the scenery and flexes every bit of comic muscle.
For those who'd rather a real dose of Bob Ross, a 2021 documentary "Bob Ross: Happy Accidents, Betrayal and Greed" can be found on Netflix, which deals with a nefarious couple Annette and Walt Kowalski who were Ross's business partners.
Ross's son, Steve, is at the center of the story telling how the Kowalskis exploited his father's name and his image by merchandising everything from waffle makers to a Monopoly game.
If you want to get your fandom of Wilson, watch "Paint," but if you want a juicy story behind the Bob Ross brand, check out Joshua Rofe's true story, which is way deeper than ripping off Ross's look for a comedy satire.
"Paint" is playing at Silverspot Cinema, Regal South Beach, O Cinema, AMC Sunset Place, Regal UA Falls, and Cinepolis Luxury Cinema in Coconut Grove, along with other cinemas in South Florida.
