Good concept, poorly executed.

it is finally so absorbing because it plays like a lyrical road odyssey that’s also a detective story.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

I figured that by the end of the picture something would happen to explain why this story was being told, what the protagonist would have revealed to him other than an onslaught of schmoozing, name-dropping and "posing" (pun intended). Instead it pretty much follows as it began, with celebrities (We'll take their word for it) of the early Sixties enjoying pleasant conversations about this or that for the sake of saying "I know famous people." I think a more seasoned writer would have developed a pursuit of why the characters are propelled forward into this action that, instead, just seems to keep repeating itself. As Homer Simpson might say about some of his own TV episodes "It's just a bunch of stuff that happened." Probably a storytelling technique was in place in the original book that doesn't quite work as a movie. I made sure to return the video to Red Box before midnight so I didn't have to pay for two days' rental. Honestly I didn't hate it -- one might say it got my mind to relax about as well as a TV talk show could. It just didn't add anything. At least it was only ninety minutes long, although here I suspect that the short duration was a clue to the film's vacuousness.

I watched the film a while ago and honestly I remember everything except the end. There's nothing much to remember about the film because the artist always stays in his studio painting and repainting. The whole film, however, resembles an experience I went through recently with someone moody I didn't really get along with (I was the writer and she was the artist) and I left her unsatisfied. Maybe that's why the end seems blurry to me.

Greetings again from the darkness. Geoffrey Rush is such a uniquely talented performer that I wouldn't hesitate to walk into any of his projects with little hint as to the subject matter. He is simply that good at what he does. Here he plays renowned Swiss sculptor and painter Alberto Giacometti, a man Rush seems destined to play given their quite similar physical appearances. It's a 90 minute joy ride (though it's not really joyful) for anyone who enjoys watching an artist work ... or in this case, an artist working as an artist.Writer-director Stanley Tucci is best known for his acting career, and he also has an eye for the camera and clearly admires Giacometti and his work. Set in 1964 Paris, most of the film takes place in Giacometti's shabby little compound that includes his studio and a bedroom he sometimes shares with his wife Annette (Sylvie Testud). Occasional forays take us to his favorite café, or walks through the city by his latest portrait subject, the American art writer James Lord (Armie Hammer). In fact, the film is based on Mr. Lord's memoir "A Giacometti Portrait", which details his experience posing for the master ... a task that was originally promised to last a couple of hours, and turned into 3 weeks.Also appearing are Tony Shalhoub as Diego, the artist's brother and assistant, and Clemence Poesy (IN BRUGES) as Caroline, a local prostitute who also serves as Giacometti's muse. It's a fine and talented cast, but this just as easily could have been a one-actor play. Rush plays the lead as a typical artist in shambles - one who cares as little for relationships as he does about money, clothes and appearances. He's perpetually rumpled with mussed hair and a dangling cigarette being his sole accessory. He is both charming and miserable, sometimes in the same breath - unwittingly pitting his forlorn wife against his more pampered muse ... never more obvious than when comparing gifts of a new dress versus a new BMW. Much of the time on screen is spent in the daily ritual: adjusting the chair just so, Lord sitting down and assuming the pose, an artistic gaze cast, followed by the careful selection of a particular brush. More often than not, Giacometti mutters an "Ahh F***", and proceeds to start over (and over and over). An honored yet frustrated Mr. Lord is forced into numerous flight reschedules, as time means nothing to an artist. Director Tucci shoots through the smudged window panes more than once, and when Giacometti tells Lord, "I'll never be able to paint you as I see you", it really captures the tortured madness and brilliance of such an amazing artist. He doesn't see the world the way most of us do, and that's what sets his art apart. Of course the personal toll on the man and those around him is quite high ... Giacometti passed away less than two years after the Lord portrait.

An interesting portrait about the painter Giacometti at the end of his life, when he painted his last painting before he died. It is curious to see their crises, their insecurities and dissatisfactions in the act of creating. And Geoffrey Rush is very well in the role of the painter while creating an interesting relationship with the character of Armie Hammer.