Boogie Woogie (2009)

The Age of Commercialism

Absolutely Fantastic

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

There are several threads running through this film, rather like the more complicated Robert Altman films.Art Spindle is the dealer who attempts to swindle every one he knows. He also likes to run his hands over younger people (man or woman) in the art world.Jean and Bob Maclestone are in their prime, in some senses, but their marriage is falling apart. Bob is having an affair with Beth (Art's assistant), while Jean is dallying with the artist Jo Richards. Plus they disagree on just about every art decision. Jean drops her high heel while hiding with Jo in a men's rest room stall. Bob notices its exact shape and size, then kicks it back to her. Later she asks for a divorce, and is shocked when he agrees immediately.The older couple, Alfred and Alfreda Rhinegold, own the art work 'Boogie Woogie' which so many people want in the film. Alfred has had it for 50 years; Alfreda recognises that they are broke and need the money.Art fires Beth for moving toward starting her own business. Then Art gives Beth a party that Jean thinks is 'so moving.'Jean leaves Bob and goes to Art's place, inadvertently interrupting a liaison. Speaking of breakups, Elaine decides to break her business relationship with Dewey. As her erstwhile agent, Dewey gave her a place to live and supported her art career. Beth offers Elaine a better deal, so Elaine decides to go with Beth who wants an exclusive (business) relationship. Paige visits Jo's studio, which we see doubles as his seduction pad, particularly his 'peripheral vision' project. Paige objects, "Aren't you with Beth?"Art Spindler deals with Freign, who has Alfreda's ear, in an attempt to finesse Alfred's desire to keep the piece by Mondrian. Bob and his lawyer deal with splitting resources deal with splitting resources, while Jean and her lawyer Emille do roughly the same. That goes on for a bit too long, but seems reasonable given how much property the couple has. Well, had...the lawyers will soak up some of it. Emille gives Jean good advice, which is about the best relationship in the film. Bob attempts an end run around the process with the lawyers.Will the Mondrian get sold? Will the divorce get settled in a half way reasonable fashion? Who will get clobbered in this demolition derby?-----Scores------Cinematography: 7/10 Often outstanding, but also sometimes wretched, mostly during the hand-held phases.Sound: 10/10 Just fine.Acting: 7/10 Stellen Skarsgard, Gillian Anderson, Christopher Lee, Danny Huston, Charlotte Rampling, and Joanna Lumley were marvelous. Unfortunately, Jamie Winstone, Simon McBruney, Gemma Atkinson, Amanda Seifried, and Jack Huston were in the cast. I usually enjoy Alan Cumming's work, but not this time, not by a long shot.Screenplay: 6/10 The story was slow getting off the ground, and continued that way for too long. It picks up some speed after context is well set. I liked the ending, since it showed some story threads leading to crashes and others going on to more success.

This film is about a group of buyers, dealers, workers and creators in the art world."Boogie Woogie" tells the story of the superficial and pretentious group of people in the art scene in London. The plot follows a dealer who tries to buy a painting, a manager who wants to open an art gallery, a video artist who films everything and a wealthy couple who does not bat an eyelid when paying millions for a painting. The numerous characters are somewhat connected, but they feel more like characters in distinct subplots that are not interrelated. With the exception of Alan Cumming, the characters are unlikable. I feel sorry for Alan Cumming's character as he is truly a victim of the art world, and the only character in the film that evokes sympathy from me. The constant description of what I think is not art with the most flowery description gets on my nerves. The scene where Amanda Seyfried receives a specially prepared artwork from Stellan Skarsgard truly revolted me. Is that really art? Is that what people would describe as honest and brave, exposing the real life etc? "Boogie Woogie" has a great ensemble cast, but unfortunately the plot is too loosely held together and lacks engagement. It looks more like an aimless collage of happenings in the art world.

I couldn't finish this. I was expecting a comedy, but not a single titter. The plot seems to involve getting a Mondrian from an older couple who need the money, but that seems to be it, apart from some rambling character development. But there's not much development, and not much of a plot.But there is Sex. Lots of it. Crotch shots; innuendo; sex toys, lesbian action. However, given the calibre of actors involved, not quite what I had in mind.So, a waste of time really. Wasted acting, and definitely no laughs.

With its many stars and connections eminently qualified to speak about the art scene, I was well-primed to enjoy Boogie Woogie to the utmost.It's based on a successful novel by author and screenwriter Danny Moynihan. The movie is a sexy black comedy set amid the hustle-bustle of fine art acquisition, dealers and galleries with concomitant affairs, in contemporary London. Characters slyly draw on real people. Critics and art experts have consequently been falling over themselves to show their knowledge of closely-linked actual persons and events. Whatever the disclaimer says.Boogie Woogie has gone to great lengths for authenticity. Real masterpieces are cleverly interwoven with fictions. Even the title work is so closely allied to the real thing that it makes you wonder. (Boogie Woogie is the name of a series of prized paintings by Mondrain, and the central artwork in the film is an accurately fictionalised piece, only destroyed afterwards at the request of Mondrain's Estate).Dealer and gallery owner, Art Spindle (Danny Huston), wants 'Boogie-Woogie.' A painting he covets above all else. Its current owner, Alfred Rhinegold (played by Christopher Lee), is desperately ill. Rhinegold's wife (Joanna Lumley) wants to up the ante by encouraging rival bidders. Especially Bob Maclestone, a collector incisively played by Stellan Skarsgard. The plot is further complicated by everyone jumping into bed with temptingly wrong people and for deliciously wrong reasons. The BBFC, after a spoiler alert, goes into not inconsiderable detail over the somewhat singular sexual content. So I won't. Fans of funky erotic subject matter have no fear: you shall find out for yourselves.Boogie Woogie brims over with great actors. Nobody needs to be ashamed of performances here, with or without clothes. They are cast in great roles and throw themselves into performances in a way that belies their love of art and desire for the picture to succeed. And so if its reach is slightly greater than its grasp, I nevertheless feel a bit uncomfortable explaining why it doesn't put woogie back into my boogie.Comedy, like abstract art, is to an extent subjective. But Boogie Woogie tilts at both windmills without embracing either. 'Ripping the lid off the art world,' is a great and noble concept. But the result here, for one reason or another, is uneven, woefully ill-judged, and a squandering of talent that borders on sacrilege. Gags aren't very funny, it doesn't arouse our passion for art, and most of the 'in' references are pointlessly unintelligible to anyone not already familiar with finer details of the respective power-brokers' sex lives.Danny Moynihan has relocated the story of his novel from New York to London: this is where some of the problems arise. Lines sound inauthentic, unconvincing, as if desperately trying to persuade us that this is Real Cockney Art-World. Subtler tones of any backstory also seem damaged. Mondrian's last painting, for instance, 'Broadway Boogie Woogie,' represents the restless motion of Manhattan. Its grid-like patterns suggest New York's ordered chaos. It has a prominent yellow which is the yellow of New York taxicabs. And a metaphor to jazz in the title echoes the movement and rhythm that are seen as analogous to Mondrian's painted marks. There are even deeper studies about the art referred to, which relate to the nature of perception, but the film seems to have lost these at the word go. Any eponymous substance has long been abandoned before such thoughts could kick in.We are, however, treated to a constant (and at times intrusive) jazz soundtrack. And much arty chat. All delivered at a speed guaranteed not to detract from the sight of Gemma Atkinson (or Gillian Anderson) treating us to glimpses of their more tangible assets. As both Moynihan and director Duncan Ward have been intimately involved with art, not to mention Damien Hirst being present as consultant, one might be forgiven for wanting a little more meat on this bone than provided by the purely, if you'll excuse me, pornographic aspects of such a pun.Joanna Lumley reprises some of the flavour from her hit TV series, Absolutely Fabulous. The familiar clash of taste and gobbiness is in full flow. But whereas Ab Fab scored with visual gags and highly developed comic characters, Boogie Woogie's attempt to lampoon style-over-substance seems injudicious and hollow. Whereas Mondrian's actual work bristles with luminous colour, the film tries too hard to be bright and ends up lacklustre. In a word, inadequate to the task. Leading parts are not charismatic enough to command or sustain appeal for the full hour and a half, even with such great actors. Timing of jokes seems rehearsed rather than spontaneous. The overall effect is ironically artificial.One of the best things about Boogie Woogie is that it might inspire you, as it inspired me, to read the original novel. The book is not everyone's cup of tea – but it is undoubtedly original, well-written, quite often shocking, and does everything the movie set out to do and doesn't.Strangely, for a film I have to admit I didn't like very much, I am strongly drawn to watching it again. I want to imagine it as it could have been. Should have been. A film that makes us care about art. Laugh about the shenanigans. Feel shocked or excited by sex and drugs and jazz. And I desperately, desperately, want to see a note at the end-credits that reassures me: "No actors were harmed in the making of this train wreck." Boogie Woogie is an oddity. Not quite bad enough to be good, and not good enough to wholeheartedly recommendable. But, like a painting where the oils contained the wrong amount of linseed, the effort that has gone into its ill-fated brushstrokes is nevertheless sadly commendable.