The Kilmer Project was launched in February 2009 as an attempt to catalog, in chronological order, the works of the actor Val Kilmer. The Kilmer Project was heavily inspired by a similar effort that a friend undertook to view all of the works of Brad Pitt, the theory of Advancement and a dwindling Netflix queue.
This well received biopic is about the famous 20th century American painter, Jackson Pollock. This being the internet and all, I'm not too sure how familiar you may be with famous modern painters, so for the uninitiated, Jackson Pollock caused quite a stir by making a lot of nice new modern art that consisted of dripping paint onto the canvas.He made a lot of them and for a time they were really popular. Then they were not that popular anymore because the art world is full of fickle pretentious assholes who always turn on a scene if it starts to get too cool, accessible, or successful for them. Anyway, Jackson Pollock drank himself right into a fatal car crash. Vrooooooooooom! Kilmer reprises his masterful Dutch accent that he picked up in "The Saint" to briefly appear onscreen as Willem de Kooning, another popular post-war abstract artist. De Kooning is known mostly for his weird depictions of women: Oh yeah, he was pretty out there: Kilmer's in this movie for like two minutes. Moving on.
I had never heard of this movie until I started The Kilmer Project. It was my hope that it would be a period piece about King Joseph I of Portugal, but alas, it is not. I'm still waiting, Hollywood! No, this is a story about a poor family in what, I'm judging from the accents, is supposed to be Long Island. The Joe they're talking about would be Val Kilmer's troubled and troublesome son. Kilmer plays Joe's hard drinking, deep in debt to fucking everyone, abusive janitor of a dad. The story is really about Joe and how a series of little crimes, like stealing food, spiral completely out of hand until this little preteen is pulling major heists.
He gets busted by Ethan Hawke, his guidance councelor who definitely did not deserve prominent billing in the credits since he had like two minutes of screentime. This extended trailer is a pretty complete retelling of the whole movie:
Anyway, the main thing to take away from this is that Val Kilmer gained a bunch of weight to play this role which was probably a mistake because even though he performs admirably in a difficult role, all that weight went to his gut and I don't think he's ever gotten rid of it.
He made a lot of them and for a time they were really popular. Then they were not that popular anymore because the art world is full of fickle pretentious assholes who always turn on a scene if it starts to get too cool, accessible, or successful for them. Anyway, Jackson Pollock drank himself right into a fatal car crash. Vrooooooooooom! Kilmer reprises his masterful Dutch accent that he picked up in "The Saint" to briefly appear onscreen as Willem de Kooning, another popular post-war abstract artist. De Kooning is known mostly for his weird depictions of women:
Oh yeah, he was pretty out there:
Kilmer's in this movie for like two minutes. Moving on.
