From my favorite movies..

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

There are pretty landscape shots. Writers putting trite mouthings into actors mouths. With lesser actors this show would be silly. 'Art must uplift humanity or it's BS.' Not so because art of all those mentioned is also to stir humanity and express the dark side. The lead character even says those who don't drink hide the shadow side. Wrong , he lived in darkness and repressed his dark side by drinking and being one dimensional not expanding his horizons with something other than landscapes. There wasn't a breathing organism in his work nor expression of his pain. All the artist did was limit himself to dime a dozen landscapes. The discussions between the characters was grade school, trite stuff always giving the one character the upper hand the writer wanted. I tried to like it after reading all the first wow comments on here. I had to dig deep to see those i agreed with. I figure the great comments were from those connected to the movie. I was moved only once towards the end. The kid was way too passive. The scenery was nice and the music ridiculous. Just my opinion but nowhere show for me.

John Talia Jr. wanted to be a painter. He realized that coming from a humble home and having a homophobic father, he didn't have a chance to make it in the art world. What's more, John wanted to absorb all he could from a reclusive landscape painter, Nicoli Seroff, that lived near him. For that, he appeals to Nicoli himself, who at first is puzzled by what John wants, so he refuses the lad. Seroff becomes intrigued by the young man's ambition and takes him as his assistant when he goes to a Pennsylvania farm where he works.Nicoli is a nasty, vodka drinking loud mouth who takes any opportunity he can to berate the young man; he even asks his new apprentice to do menial jobs around the farm. If John thought he was going to learn a lot from this guy, he was probably insane, but eventually master and pupil come to an understanding of what each one brings to a point they will remember forever. Relief comes in the shape of Carla, a neighbor of Nicoli, who awakens in the youth to a possibility of love.George Gallo, a painter himself, wrote and directed this drama that might be autobiographical, for all we know. The film, which opened in Manhattan recently, seemed to have been shelved for almost three years, although we saw it some time ago in other markets and overseas.Trevor Morgan is the young aspiring painter. He is credible and his inter action with a veteran actor Armin Mueller-Stahl is the most interesting aspect of the film. Mr. Mueller-Stahl makes a wonderful and complex Nicoli Seroff. Ray Liotta plays the homophobic father and Samantha Mathis is Carla.The film is a nostalgic trip to the past.

This movie was a major disappointment on direction, intellectual niveau, plot and in the way it dealt with its subject, painting. It is a slow moving film set like an episode of Wonder Years, with appalling lack of depth though. It also fails to deliver its message in a convincing manner.The approach to the subject of painting is very elite, limited to vague and subjective terms as "beauty". According to the makers of this movie, 'beauty' can be only experienced in Bob-Ross-style kitschy landscape paintings. Good art according to this film can be achieved by applying basic (like, primary school level) color theory and lots of sentiment. In parts the movie is offending, e.g. at a point it is stated (rather, celebrated by dancing on tables) that mentally handicapped people are not capable of having emotions or expressing them through painting, their works by definition being worthless 'bullshit' (quote).I do not understand how the movie could get such high rating, then again, so far not many people rated it, and they chose for only very high or very low grades.

Once in a while a film comes along that gives you hope in humanity and in the ability of the film industry to really say something meaningful. George Gallo (Director/Writer) uses the voice of an experienced older man, who is a master artist, to express his feelings to a young artist about his views of life and art, which equals the wisdom of an experienced sage. With lines like, "True art is beautiful," "True art really says something," and "An atheist can't paint true beauty," the movie is filled with profound wisdom. Although Seroff obviously believes in God, he is anything but self-righteous. He drinks vodka and uses profanity to prove a point. Much of his wisdom comes from the loss he has suffered, both from people he loved and the opinions of critics who know nothing truly about life or great art. The young artist, John, is a special soul who knows what he wants to be and is an older soul than his father, who tries to stifle his son's sensitivity and creative genius. Every aspiring painter or musician or artist of any kind needs to see this film.