My Kid Could Paint That

Name: My Kid Could Paint That
Genre: Mystery, Documentary
Released: October 5, 2007
Duration: 82 min
Rating: 74
Cast: Laura Olmstead, Mark Olmstead, Marla Olmstead

2007

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 25 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Universal acclaim based on 11 Ratings

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8.1	User Score Universal acclaim based on 11 Ratings

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My Kid Could Paint That

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Movie Details & Credits

Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: October 5, 2007 | PG-13

Starring: Laura Olmstead, Mark Olmstead, Marla Olmstead

Summary: In the span of only a few months, 4-year-old Marla Olmstead rocketed from total obscurity into
international renown – and sold over $300,000 dollars worth of paintings. She was compared to
Kandinsky and Pollock, and called “a budding Picasso.” But not all of the attention was positive. From the beginning, many faulted her parents forIn the span of only a few months, 4-year-old Marla Olmstead rocketed from total obscurity into
international renown – and sold over $300,000 dollars worth of paintings. She was compared to
Kandinsky and Pollock, and called “a budding Picasso.” But not all of the attention was positive. From the beginning, many faulted her parents for exposing Marla to the glare of the media and accused the couple of exploiting their daughter for financial gain. Others felt her work was, in fact, comparable to the great Abstract Expressionists – but saw this as emblematic of the meaninglessness of Modern Art. And then, five months into Marla’s new life as a celebrity and just short of her fifth birthday, a bombshell dropped. CBS’ 60 Minutes aired an exposé suggesting strongly that the paintings were painted by her father, himself an amateur painter. As quickly as the public built Marla up, they tore her down. The Olmsteads were barraged with hate mail, ostracized around town, sales of the paintings dried up, and Marla’s art dealer considered moving out of Binghamton. Embattled, the Olmsteads turned to the filmmaker to clear their name. Torn between his own responsibility as a journalist and the family’s desire to see their integrity restored, the director finds himself drawn deeper and deeper into a situation that can’t possibly end well for him and them, and could easily end badly for both. (Sony Classics)

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Director: Amir Bar-Lev

Genre(s): Mystery, Documentary

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 82 min

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

100

Peter Rainer

Amir Bar-Lev's documentary is fascinating on all kinds of levels: as a movie about the nature of art, the lure and pitfalls of celebrity, and the complicated conundrums of parenting. Read full review

Lisa Schwarzbaum

Amir Bar-Lev's engrossing film is as much about the stubborn ambiguities of art, truth, meaning, and relationships as it is about the authenticity of the Olmstead oeuvre. Read full review

TV Guide Magazine Maitland McDonagh

Bar-Lev also explores the freakish popular appeal of child prodigies, the family dynamics that come into play when a child's celebrity and earning capacity overshadows the adults', and the remarkably conflicted and contradictory admissions drawn from Brunelli about Marla's work. Read full review

Roger Ebert

In the last analysis, I guess it all reduces to taste and instinct. Some paintings are good, says me, or says you, and some are bad. Some paintings could be painted by a child, some couldn't be. Read full review

Elizabeth Weitzman

Everyone involved, from Marla's defensive parents to the cynical journalists who promoted and then turned on her, seems to have some sort of agenda. Read full review

Dennis Harvey

The popular human-interest story of a child prodigy becomes an engrossing meditation on truth, media exploitation and the value of art in My Kid Could Paint That. Read full review

Marjorie Baumgarten

My conclusion is that exploitation of a child for the sake of one's career is a shameful act. Read full review

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User Reviews

CoriK.

Oct 21, 2007

Fascinating...I think she painted them but I think her father eggs her on because Marla asks for his input and he looks guilty when his wife suggests a lie detector test.

0 of 0 users found this helpful

JayW.

Oct 5, 2007

Tracing the rocky arc of an alleged child progidy and his conflicted parents, this slap at the pretensions of modern art ultimately ends in a completely unexpected place. A must-see.

0 of 0 users found this helpful

MartinM.

Mar 8, 2008

The film isn't entirely enjoyable but isn't a pain, and has an interesting story that I didn't know existed. Some of the critics are just letting their feelings about the story itself influence their rating of the film, like an oil executive rates a movie about global warming.

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Eldon

Mar 13, 2008

The whole story is truly fascinating. I found it interesting the questions that were raised as well as the ones that weren't. To watch a situation play out where you're questioning the minds of everyone, including Amir Bar-Lev... you really want an answer, but what is that answer? The whole story is truly fascinating. I found it interesting the questions that were raised as well as the ones that weren't. To watch a situation play out where you're questioning the minds of everyone, including Amir Bar-Lev... you really want an answer, but what is that answer? I did get the feeling that something, I don't know what, isn't adding up here. I suppose that has become the inherent question here...… Expand

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geewah

Jan 14, 2021

An interesting enough doco that says more about the nature and value of art than it does about the Olmsteads.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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