If this were Amadeus, Aldis would be this film's version of Antonio Salieri. He also harbors a not-so-secret resentment and jealousy of one specific artist who is a veritable celebrity. He has friends who are also artists or work in the art world. None of that stops him from having sex with various beautiful women. He drives a crappy car with a broken door that occasionally doesn't start, requiring him to ride the bus. It's not clear how old he is, but some of his work is being displayed in an art gallery for an exhibit called '30 Under 30.' He's still relatively young, but he's struggling a bit. Yet, Randle's performance at times suggest a bit of inspiration from Kathy Bates' character in Misery (1990).Įric Ladin ( Boardwalk Empire and The Killing) stars as Aldis Browne, an aspiring painter from Nebraska that's now based in California. At first, she seems just a fan, supportive and adoring. Yet, it's her narrating in voice-over this twisted tale, not her presumed protégé. She haunts her Los Angeles mansion like Norma Desmond from Sunset Boulevard (1950).

Her mentoring is perhaps masking a kind of substitution she's doing with the young man with whom she attaches. She also had a late son who was a painter as well. She's a wealthy widow with a passion for art, specifically painting, having done some of which in her past. Yet, the idea of competitiveness and envy go rather quickly out the window, as this film, written and directed by Cory Wexler Grant, really establishes itself as being more about a woman dealing with loss and grief through an intense and controlling relationship where she stands as a rather domineering mentor and surrogate mother-figure.īetsy Randle ( Boy Meets World and Home Improvement) is that domineering mentor named Joanne Marco. Murray Abraham as the iconic Antonio Salieri is the prime example. When it comes to artistic rivalry, one artist being jealous of another who's more successful or more famous, the Oscar-winning classic starring F.

At first, I thought this film might be a modern-day or Millennial version of Amadeus (1984).

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