Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

i know i wasted 90 mins of my life.

A lot of fun.

In 1999, a man with a camera discovered that a cousin of his was a noteworthy member of a growing movement that would shake the art world to its foundation, make us question what art is and see the world of art change in as radical a way as Warhol and Picasso. He'd document these formative years for almost a decade, becoming the unofficial scribe for the next big wave in art.Unfortunately, he was a bit of a nutter.A film that shows that, indeed, destiny seems to snatch people and play merry hell with them, Exit Through The Gift Shop is obstinately a film about the (in)famous street artist Banksy, known for his striking counter-culture style. It has even been called a case of the documented turning the camera around on the filmmaker. But none of these can truly describe the surreal experience that this documentary becomes. The best I can do is to say that the film is about a man by the name of Thierry Guetta, who through chance and circumstance, becomes the man who captures on film the birth of a movement, is swallowed up by it and then--perhaps quite accidentally--hijacks it for himself.Thierry was on vacation in his native France in 1999, when he discovered that his cousin just happens to be the street artist "Invader", one of a number of people at the forefront of the provocative and thought-provoking street art movement of the late 90's and early to mid-aughts. Thierry also happened to have a compulsion to film every aspect of his every day life. From there, Thierry finds himself becoming part of that movement. Be it a desire to be a part of it, or simply piggybacking on the fame of others, Thierry became the cameraman for a number of street artists. Eventually, his desire to film street artists at work reached its zenith: he wanted to film Banksy.Banksy, who to this day keeps his identity a secret, is the most recognizable name in the street art movement. Indeed, his name is a by-word for the art form in the same way that Picasso is a by-word for cubism. Be it fate, coincidence or sheer chance, Thierry and Banksy's paths crossed, and Banksy found himself under Thierry's lens. As time went on, Banksy confides in Thierry, opening up to him and his camera a part of his world that many have since wished they could have been a part of. But through innocent encouragement, Banksy and his comrades in the street art movement find themselves creating a monster, as Thierry puts his camera down and picks up a stencil and the moniker "Mr. Brainwash."Whereas most documentaries are thought-provoking, or moving, or fill us with a sense of wonder, "Exit Through The Gift Shop" is a laugh riot. We are treated to watch as hapless street artists who invited Thierry into their reclusive world find themselves caught in the riptide that is the almost demented whim of their cameraman. While it shows the birth of the street art movement in fascinating detail, the true focus of the documentary throughout is the man behind the camera. The closest one can come to a comparison is if "Grey Gardens" suddenly had the Maysles put their cameras down and become residents of the dilapidated mansion themselves. We watch the steady transition of a man from an observer to an active participant, laughing and cringing the entire way. One has to admire the sheer enthusiasm that Thierry approaches his newfound subject of obsession, which leaves even the men who began the art movement baffled. The entire time, the man behind street art's most recognizable images displays the wit he's most famous for, giving the film an air of satire that makes it simply surreal.Do yourself a favor. Sit back and watch this documentary with slack-jawed wide-eyed awe. It's an experience that anyone with even a basic interest in street art, documentary filmmaking and, hell, life in general should experience.

Banksy directs a documentary about Thierry Guetta who immigrated from France in 1999. He opened a trendy vintage clothing shop in L.A. He is constantly filming with his video camera. He discovers his cousin is street artist Space Invader which turns into a more in-depth obsession with other street artists. Invader connects him with Shepard Fairey which leads to other artists. He gets intrigued with the secretive Banksy. He films Banksy and then Banksy turns the camera on him.There is a fun energy about this. It feels guerrilla secretive outsider work. Then the question becomes whether this is real or fake or semi-real. It colors the movie for me. In the end, this is another form of street art. It doesn't have to follow any demands of a documentary. I took the whole movie with a grain of salt. It doesn't mean it's bad. I just wish this is a more definitive solid movie about Banksy.

By far my most favorite documentary. I probably saw it 10 times already and every of my friends who haven't, I force to watch it with me.This movie gives a perfect view behind the artist and art scene, not only regarding street art but in general. It shows what it needs to be a successful artist today and how art gets commercialized through media and crazy people who only want to be 'in' and therefore try to follow the crowds as much in front as possible.It also shows how much real artists suffer under the hype they unchain themselves because people need heroes and so put the artist on top of their art, while the real artist wants his art to be recognized but not himself.Who wants to get a picture of the different personalities artists can have, this is an excellent example as well. While some want to stay in the shadow, others are narcissists and feel well in the spot lights. But at the end the audience may understand that the guys in the spot lights are the great pretenders (as was Andy Warhol for example), while the real artists prefer to stay unknown (as Banksy).However - since I saw this movie the first time, I changed the way to walk through a city, opening my eyes and finding many interesting things I would have simply overlooked before. So I can say - this movie brought some new value into my life - Thank you guys!!

Exit Through the Gift Shop - This was pretty entertaining. The movie starts out as a documentary of Street Artists. The stuff these guys were doing was pretty cool and I would have happily watched 90 minutes worth of that. At some point in the film there was a switch and instead of following around the street artists, we started following around the original documentarian (Thierry Guetta).If you haven't seen this, and plan to, stop reading now! I started to get a little suspicious around the time of this twist. First, when Thierry turned in his first cut of the documentary. They played it off as a completely unwatchable - to me it looked like someone with talent trying to make something unwatchable. Seemed a little odd. The second was when Thierry allegedly got detained at DisneyLand. There was no footage of that. We had to totally take is word about being grilled for hours - and the Disney police examining his video camera.This suspicion did not, for one moment, lessen my enjoyment of the movie. It may have even made me more interested! As Thierry turned into Mr. Brainwash, it was fun to watch. The show he put on was pretty insane and I found myself doing some research on the web to see if it really happened. I did have to question if one person could really put out all that work in such a short amount of time. I know he didn't do the work - but even coming up with that many ideas would take a lot of time.I could keeping going on about this flick. It was something else and I highly recommend a viewing.