FILM REVIEW: The Art of Failure: Chuck Connelly Not for Sale
© A.J. Malouin 2009
(Rating: 2 by The Film Snob.)
(See our side-bar page “How Caryl & Al and The Film Snob Rate Movies”)
(2008/USA. Directed by Jeffrey R. Stimmel.)
Creating great art is a highly personal and solitary activity. Interacting with a society that pays cash money for that great art requires an entirely different set of skills and talent. Can a good artist with a bad personality shoot himself in the foot with every single one of his patrons? Here’s the story of Chuck Connelly, a highly talented neo-impressionist — some say the *most talented ever* — who shot himself in the foot, head, testicles, and pocketbook with outrageous behavior bordering on the sociopathic. “Most talented ever?” Look at the paintings in this film and decide for yourself! “Outrageous behavior bordering on the sociopathic?” Look at the tirades in this film and decide for yourself!
From beginning to end, The Film Snob *loved* this film!
It tells the story of Chuck Connelly, a New-York-City artist whose star rose in the same bright sky as that of Julian Schnabel and Jean-Michel Basquiat. Unlike those two, however, Connelly sabotaged himself with behavior that was beyond unacceptable to the NYC art world.
He probably would have *eaten* his patrons, if they would have stood still for it.
As a result, Connelly became as well known for his awful personality as he was for his amazing artwork. Both are captured here, in unflinching detail.
At one point Martin Scorsese proposed a film based on Connelly’s life and lined up Nick Nolte to play Connelly. That project fell part when Connelly let it be known that he thought Scorsese was “a hack director.”
It reached the point where one art gallery owner was the *only* who could deal with Connelly. In an interview, she says her employees were terrified of Connelly and were literally scared to death every single time he came into the gallery.
After his career self-destructed, Connelly tried to stage a comeback by creating an alter ego, outfitting this fellow appropriately with all the trappings of a New York artist, and having him pose as the artist who painted Connelly’s paintings. The alter ego actually created a following, got a one-man show, and sold a few paintings. When he *did* however, Connelly refused to part with the paintings, and so *that* relationship ended badly, also.
All in all, this is a lovely little film. The tirades of Connelly which are captured on tape are truly amazing. It’s hard to imagine that these real-life explosions could ever see the light of day, and the film proves that being a great artist is not enough.
You also have to be a semi-decent human being.
(1 hr 19. Not rated in the USA. In English.)