Dir. Duncan Ward ,UK, 2009,94 mins
Cast: Gillian Anderson, Heather Graham, Danny Huston
Review by Carol Allen
This rather patchy art world comedy boasts a remarkably stellar cast and is produced and adapted by former art dealer Danny Moynihan from his own novel of the same name.
Huston plays gallery owner Art Spindle, an avaricious dealer who is determined to get his hands on the painting that gives the film its title. It's owned by elderly eccentric Alfred Rheingold (Christopher Lee) and his wife Alfreda (Joanna Lumley), who have fallen on hard times financially. But Rheingold is sentimentally attached to the painting, which is worth a lot more than Spindle is offering, and refuses to sell. Also after the painting is collector Bob Maclestone (Stellan Skarsgärd), whose marriage to Jean (Anderson) is teetering due to his philandering with Spindle's ambitious assistant Beth (Graham), whom he's setting up in her own gallery in rivalry to her boss. Jean though is not above a bit of dalliance herself with flavour of the month young artist Joe (Jack Huston, who's Danny's nephew in real life). Also on the scene is conceptual artist Elaine (Jaime Winstone), who is coldly and often secretly videoing her own life and the people in it to further her career; Elaine's devoted and very camp manager figure (Alan Cumming), whom she callously ditches when it suits her; Spindle's pretty new assistant Paige (Amanda Seyfried) and Charlotte Rampling as Jean's much divorced best friend, who is full of experienced advice on how to take a husband to the cleaners in a divorce case. So a lot of carryings on, many of them sexual despite the 15 certificate, and a wealth of thespian talent on show.
With that sort of plot it is not surprisingly a bit tricky to sort out who is who at the beginning - not to mention who is doing what to whom. In some ways it's a bit like a modern version of restoration comedy, including some punning character names - Art Spindle indeed. It should be a great caper movie with elements of satire but there's something slightly unsteady about both the script and the direction.
Although Moynihan trained as an artist in London, he gained much of his experience of the art world in New York in the eighties as both a dealer and an artist and this was the setting for his novel. He has transposed the story to contemporary London and though the London locations are well used, the depiction of the London art scene in the film, according to those who know about these things, is still more of the eighties, despite the contribution of Damien Hirst as art advisor. The direction is also sometimes a bit unclear, as in Bob and Jean's apartment, which is so crammed with art works that for a large part of the film I thought it was another art gallery. And the casting of two pretty blondes (Graham and Seyfried) as two of Bob's fancies is ill judged, as there are times when they are confusingly similar.
The performances though are delicious throughout, particularly Skarsgärd's lascivious Bob, Winstone as the lipstick lesbian Elaine, Lumley, the epitome of genteel poverty and Simon McBurney as her wily butler/secretary. While Jack Huston is a sexy young actor and a bit of a chip off the family block. With all this talent available it's a pity the film itself lacks the bite and satirical edge that the subject needs.
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