Pollock
Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: December 15, 2000 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
77
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 31 Critic Reviews
Positive:
28
Mixed:
3
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Pollock is confident, insightful work--one of the year's best films. Read full review
91
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
Harris genuinely seems to be at one with the character, and his movie is eerily alive. Read full review
90
TimeRichard Schickel
The result is a harrowing film, impossible to "like" in any conventional way, hypnotically impossible to turn away from. Read full review
90
Film.comPeter Brunette
Irrespective of whether Pollock, as a movie, is any good -- and it is very, very good -- it's clear that Ed Harris was born to play the lead role. Read full review
90
VarietyDavid Rooney
Distinguished by its quiet, intelligent, admirably restrained approach and by two finely wrought performances from Harris and Marcia Gay Harden in the leading roles. Read full review
90
L.A. WeeklyF. X. Feeney
What Harris extracts from himself is nothing less than a psychological nude scene, sustained across two hours. Read full review
89
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
Pollock is that rare breed, a biopic that makes you want to learn more about its subject, as much as you can, as fast as you can. Read full review
88
Boston GlobeJay Carr
Like its subject, Pollock is a messy creation, but one whose depth of commitment and high attack keeps it on track.
88
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
Harris convincingly creates one "Pollock" after another over the course of the movie. Read full review
88
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
Harris and Harden have real on-screen sympatico, in their nasty battles and good times alike. Read full review
83
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
The resulting film is a labor of love with all the strengths and weaknesses you might expect from such a designation. Read full review
80
SalonStephanie Zacharek
As good as Harris is, though, it's Harden's performance that sticks with you long after you've seen the movie. She understands what Krasner must have known intuitively. Greatness comes not from cleaning up messes, but from allowing them to be made in the first place. Read full review
80
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
The movie's best moments evoke the thrill of doing something new. Pollock convincingly retails the beauty and originality of the painter's best work -- it may not be an intellectual adventure, but it does represent one. Read full review
80
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Ed Harris, who plays Pollock and makes his debut as a director - doing both jobs superbly, by the way - is angst incarnate. Read full review
80
Film.comRobert Horton
Like other aspects of this film, the image may be a little too perfect, a little too careful. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
Stands out among creative bio-pics for an ability to show art being made in a way that's as realistic and exciting as it's ever been on screen. Read full review
80
The New York TimesStephen Holden
May be the first movie about a painter to transcend the gushy clichés found in movies that try to unravel the mysteries of artistic creation. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
For all the praise that has been heaped upon it, is a quasisatisfying, half realized vision. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
The movie is enriched by its fine acting and by its creative respect for an innovator whose influence still permeates contemporary art. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleWesley Morris
Renders the juicy bits of the artist's life in two hours of pulsing highlights that suggest a man who never really had any emotional or psychic downtime. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldElisa Turner
Some of the most riveting passages of the film are Harris slathering skeins of rich color, dipped fresh from cans of house paint, onto canvases stretched out on the floor. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
It is a difficult and demanding movie, one that rewards the persevering moviegoer just as Pollock's difficult and demanding paintings ultimately reward the steadfast. Read full review
75
New York PostLou Lumenick
Masterful acting. Read full review
70
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
Several startling depictions of the artist at work make you forget, if only temporarily, the serious shortcomings of the script.
70
NewsweekJeff Giles
Pollock can be clunky and TV-movie-ish. Still, Harris gives a fiery, convincing performance.
63
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
Truth is, one can probably tell as much about Jackson Pollock the man by looking at his paintings than by watching this movie.
63
Mr. ShowbizMichael Atkinson
The dilemma is simple: Living, making art, and then dying does not constitute much of a story. Read full review
63
USA TodayMike Clark
The movie falls short of achieving its apparent goal: being the "Raging Bull" of the art world.
60
SlateDavid Edelstein
I don't know what Pollock is supposed to be about, but as it stands—by default—it's the most blood-freezing Jewish-mother nightmare ever filmed. Pollock would give Woody Allen the willies. Read full review
60
Dallas ObserverBill Gallo
A reasonably entertaining -- and occasionally very moving -- picture. Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
A smart but disappointingly conventional portrait of an artist who had little use for convention. Read full review
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