Local Color (2006)

Wonderful character development!

Why so much hype?

The Worst Film Ever

Great Film overall

LOCAL COLOR is one of those films that move sensitive audience members despite its flaws. The story by George Gallo (also responsible for the script) is based on a true event - the coming together of a young student artist with a crusty alcoholic master painter and how one summer of cohabitation in the beauty of Pennsylvania's countryside sets the stage for the transformation of each. The idea is excellent and the story does indeed provide information about the importance of representational art in a world preferring the jolt of 'progressive art' for both the novice art appreciator and art students - among other values - but the dialogue at times is so repetitive and predictable that the mood frequently changes inappropriately. Armin Mueller-Stahl lends his usual credibility to the tortured soul of Nicoli Seroff, a Russian landscape artist of advanced years who came to America after the Stalin purges murdered his family and his wife Anya and who now paints very little because of his disillusionment with the contemporary art scene and the tenor of the times. Down the street (the film begins in Port Chester, New York - the year is 1974) lives a lad named John Talia, Jr (Trevor Morgan) who is at odds with his inner need to create art and the world of 'normal boys' as viewed by his father (Ray Liotta). Through a series of instances John discovers Nicoli and after frustrated attempts to study art with the master, Nicoli begrudgingly invites John to his summer studio in the wilds of Pennsylvania. There the two grow into each other's worlds, in part due to the external influences of art critic Curtis Sunday (Ron Perlman) and the lonely Carla (Samantha Mathis) - a young girl whose only child is now dead and who lives for the closeness of caring for Nicoli. How the boy and the master mend fences and learn form each other is the story of a summer of enlightenment. The acting is very fine, the photography matches the mood of the landscapes each of the two characters approach, and the story line is touching. Gallo somehow finds it necessary to pepper his dialogue with two expletives that grow boring and seem like laziness on the part of the script writing. But once over this bothersome hurdle the result of this film is a touching tribute to the concept of inspiration and the camaraderie of master and pupil. Especially fine for art students who are faced with the dilemma of representational versus non-representational expression in art. Grady Harp

This very beautiful & excellently acted movie,has suffered the same fate of similar type films. If a movie has no big name actors, nor is it an action ,adventure movie,it is hardly released on cine-plex screens.LOCAL COLOR was made in 2005,it ad a one screen run in 2007, & in August 2009 had a 2 screen run,thusly it generated a miserly $ 50,000 gross, Total cost was about $ 3.25 million.This is a very leisurely BUT not slow film was written & directed by George Gallo & is a semi-fictionalized version of one summer in his own life when he was a late teen. He had dreams of being a landscape painter & much of the film is done in beautiful landscapes. The director puts his own vision into each scene & the result is very beautiful.What really makes the movie stand-out is the superb acting & settings.The young lad is played by Trevor Morgan, an up and coming actor. Armin Mueller-Stahl is the older painter who mentors our lad, He of course commands every one of his scenes,he is one of those actors known for this. The scenes between the two of them have have a quiet intensity,that is excellent.In worthy support are some of the better actors available. Samantha Mathis, Ray Liotta, Diana Scawid, Ron Perlmann & Charles Durning, They all are excellent.This film is now on DVD & for those who like adult dramas about human relationships I highly recommend it.The film has an R rating due to certain words our main character uses.It does come over OK though as it fits his character to a T.Ratings: ***1/2 (out of 4) 95 points (out of 100) 9 (out of 10)

Director George Gallo crafts an emotional journey of discovery and heartfelt wisdom filled with characters and performances as colorful as the paintings at the heart of the story. Vibrant, sentimental, and full of life, Local Color reveals the passion and influences behind the creation of an artist, and with poignant revelations and dabs of brilliant humor, art imitates life as much as life becomes art. In 1974 New York, young John Talia (Trevor Morgan) aspires to be a painter, and against the wishes of his overbearing father (Ray Liotta), travels to Pennsylvania with elderly genius artist Nicholi Seroff (Armin Mueller-Stahl) to learn the master's techniques. However, the cantankerous alcoholic painter's tortured past leaves him with little joy in his heart and the tenuous relationship between the two rises and falters throughout the summer, but through encounters with such diverse characters as the art aficionado Curtis Sunday (Ron Perlman) and the captivating country girl Carla (Samantha Mathis), John learns several valuable lessons about life and art from Nicholi, and the irritable Russian becomes invigorated in his passion as he once was so long ago.Knockout performances by Armin Mueller-Stahl, Samantha Mathis and Ron Perlman are the true highlights of the film. Stahl embodies the broken down Russian painter Nicholi with uncanny realism and authenticity. Based on a real person, Seroff, whom Director Gallo chose to leave anonymous for legal reasons, actually spoke with overbearingly crude language and a never-ending bottle of vodka in his hand. But those idiosyncrasies translate beautifully to the screen, and his performance is unmatched. Mathis is outstanding as the mysterious and distraught neighbor, Perlman makes a hilarious appearance as an overly flamboyant art aficionado and Ray Liotta plays the homophobic father – with such a humorous blend of zany characters, Local Color has a surprisingly refreshing degree of comedy, which breaks up its slow pace and tranquil subject matter. While Local Color's story and acting are its most redeeming factors, the most peculiar piece of the film is its narration. Opening with the voice-over of an older man explaining his journey through life, the audience immediately assumes the story will be a flashback. Instead, this same character, the older version of Talia, continues to narrate at key points in the film - except that we never get to see who is behind the voice. Several shots focus on young Trevor Morgan's face as the voice continues to speak - we know it's him reminiscing about his experiences, but we are never allowed to make that connection, since we never even seen Morgan as an old man. It's obvious what is going on, and yet the disassociation is prominently distracting.Gallo brings to life the story of his own youth and the mentor who guided him in his dreams of becoming a painter. His fervent passion for both art and film-making (and the casting of several exceptional actors) has culminated in a film both poignantly moving and surprisingly humorous. Showcasing idealism and realism amidst characters taken from his own experiences, the story behind the making of Local Color is as aspiring as the film itself. Working without studio support, the crew still acquired several notable actors and was able to shoot the entire film in only 18 days. Several of the producers, and even Gallo himself, took out mortgages on their homes to help fund the film, and much of the talent agreed to participate simply out of admiration of the script and the shared passion to tell Gallo's remarkable story.The Massie Twins

I saw a rough cut of this film a while back and was deeply moved by its simple beauty and meditative pace. The performances have so much depth and take the diverse characters to a level that must have moved even the writer/director and producers. It is also surprisingly funny, well not surprisingly, but when you read terms like "deeply moved" or "meditatve pace" you might *surprisingly* find yourself laughing out loud...a lot...This is a feel good movie without being forced to feel good...it is an unfolding story with the heart and soul of the writer/director, producers, crew and cast made available to us, the audience, to take, relate and in our own way, give back...