High Art (1998)

Ok, I'm an idiot. I watched a movie called High Art, expecting something that wasn't pretentious bullshit. My bad. First off, it must be said that all men are evil and pathetic, and must spout off stupid lines, like wondering if their shirt fits well. Another thing to know is that, if a man is upset that his girlfriend, whom he lives with, came home high on cocaine, he should acknowledge that he is being uptight. Obviously, the problem is not with the girlfriend who's snorting random substances with people she's met only two times before, but it's the guy who tries to, very politely, ask her about what she's doing who is to blame. Also, as in any lesbian propaganda film, the man will have sex with her, and finish up after no more than 20 seconds, before caring about her drug induced state.

I don't get it. These days, I've been complaining about all the same things in movies that I've been watching. Lately, they've been so unbelievable, and heavy handed, that I just can't help but come out angry. Adventureland was shit, yes, but this movie was just plain mean spirited and hateful. I feel it is safe to assume that if a girl lives with a guy, and they tell one another other that they love each other, that they at very least care about each other. So how am I supposed to believe that she, without ever questioning herself, keeps running off and having sex with some girl artist and then ultimately publishes photos of it in a magazine. To top that all off, the one dimensional girl she keeps running around with, who took the pictures, dies from a drug overdose at the end (good riddance), and when she looks at the pictures in the magazine we are supposed to feel sad. No, I'm not. Both of these girls were cold hearted, terrible people, and my only sadness in this story was that one of the two girls didn't overdose.

I need to acknowledge that the way people act in the real world is an unpredictable thing. Clearly that is what the movie was going for, but when you try to have moments of sadness, and emotion, and they fall completely flat, because I the viewer felt only hate for the characters, then you have failed as a writer/director. To make matters worse, it felt like the movie wanted me to cheer for the girls breaking other people's hearts.

High Art is a terrible movie. One of the most exhausting and terrible that I have ever seen. Don't waste your time with it, as I foolishly did.

Also, a fun drinking game if you do watch this movie. Take a drink every time someone is wearing a bra! Don't worry, you won't get drunk. You probably won't even open the bottle.