Eagleheart – The ripped-off face of art gets exposed

We start with some anti-comedy — 30 seconds of a techno beat and an exterior building shot. It’s a metaphor for the facade of “anti-art,” art without purpose, just to be annoying. Or perhaps I’ve just made it up. I think that makes it art too.

When criminals attack an art auction where legendary garbage (literally garbage) artist Gleeko (Bud Cort) is selling his latest disgusting masterpiece that’s a metaphor for life or something, the Marshals leap into action with some classic Eagleheart nonsense. Backwards faces, camera tricks badly hiding continuity errors, sexist jokes at Susie’s expense, and the particularly gruesome bloodiness of ripping off a thug’s face. Chris shoots the lead thug, blood splattering all over the walls … but that blood splatter on wall gets auctioned off to be sold by suddenly rapt art lovers.

In what is the first of a particularly silly (but funny) running gag, Chris gets dollar signs in his eyes at the thought of getting paid a lot for his art — starting cartoonish and becoming a horrible burden that requires surgery the next scene. Then it’s time for the predictable (although nutty) attack on the modern art community, with a montage where a bunch of art critics call Chris “the artist of our time.” Understating it, clearly. This is a fifteen minute episode, so no time to spend on building character arcs.

So Chris is showing almost immediately selling out, even getting Brett to shoot people instead. Outsourcing art, juxtaposed with the ridiculously over the top bloody spurts. But then a jealous Gleeko (I can’t stop laughing at the name) starts killing people himself and arranging them artistically, replacing Chris as the next big thing (for a couple of minutes, anyway). The next point on the arc of the modern artist — replacement by someone else.

But Chris tricks Gleeko into selling out by shooting a bloody advertisement out Chris’ own back, ruining Gleeko’s “facade of integrity,” before falling to that dollar sign gag times a thousand. Of course, we close on the discovery of Brett’s “performance art” — painting the idiot as genius, an indictment of the nature of artistic criticism in the modern art community. Or maybe it’s just trying to be hilarious, as per usual.

Amusing out of context quotes:

• “Hey, buddy, the only art I give a s*** about is in the Garfunkel style, as in Art Garfunkel!” — Chris
• “Arts section. They should call that the funnies on account of what a joke it is. And they call the funnies the obituaries because nobody slays me more than Ziggy, Hagar, and the rest of the gang. (pause) And they should call real estate sports.” — Brett
• “I’m working with this great organization that gives fat suits to starving people to boost their self-esteem!” — Susie
• “Gleeko, you bore me. The best thing you can do for your career is die.” — Kesi
• “Oh look who it is, yesterday’s news.” — Arty Woman
• “Or should we say, you’re today’s snooze.” — Art Critic
• “Well, you know what they say: Live fat, die old, and leave a weird-looking corpse.” — Chris

Clacked by Jeremy Fogelman
on Jun 08, 2012 @ 08:59 EST5EDT