Review of the film by Nicole Paon “Art by Concepts”

Nicole Paon’s crime comedy “The Kill Room” has been released, in which for the first time, almost twenty years after “Kill Bill 2,” Uma Thurman and Samuel L. Jackson meet in the same frame. Of course, almost a debutante in directing, Paon is not Tarantino at all, and one cannot expect a new word in art from her film, but it almost guarantees a certain pleasure for the audience from the central acting duo, he believes Julia Shagelman.

Things are not going well at the art gallery of Patrice Capullo (Uma Thurman): the paintings are not selling, rich collectors are passing by, and artists (one of them is played by the daughter of Uma and Ethan Hawke, Maya Hawke) are trying to defect to more successful colleagues. Later, the authors will hint that the gallery owner ended up at this point thanks to her uncompromising attitude in matters of art, but her addiction to Adderall, a prescription drug that is very popular among drug addicts from “respectable” society, also clearly plays a big role in her failures. Patrice owes her dealer (Matthew Maher), who supplies the pills, just like everyone else around her, so one day she pays him back with a painting.

Thus, her world of fashionable Manhattan neighborhoods and elegant vernissages (where, however, she has not been invited for a long time) intersects with another: the underground and the criminal. In it, hitman Reggie (Joe Manganiello) eliminates people on the instructions of crime bosses Andrei (Nikolai Tsankov) and Anton (Tom Pechinka) – no matter what events happen in the world, the Russian mafia is immortal – and his friend Gordon (Samuel L. Jackson) launders their money through his bakery. The illegal business, unlike Patrice’s business, is going very well, there is more and more money, and Gordon is thinking about new ways to launder it. When he sees a painting from a dealer he knows and finds out how much it costs, a plan matures in his head.

Gordon comes to Patrice with his proposal: she will “sell” the works of a non-existent artist to non-existent customers, keeping a good percentage for herself, and writing him checks for already crystal clear amounts. So that no one will undermine, the paintings and sculptures will actually appear in the gallery’s catalog, and Reggie will create them, which he immediately begins, actively using his favorite killer tool – plastic bags, with which he strangles the victims. Hence the pseudonym that Gordon chooses for the artist: Bagman. And everything would go according to plan, but news about the Bagman, despite all Patrice’s efforts to keep it secret, begins to spread among gallery owners, collectors and art critics, he becomes a sensation, and the number of people who want to really buy his work is growing every day.

The film’s satirical portrayal of the world of contemporary art lacks originality. It is shown as another scheme for the relatively honest taking of money from the population, more precisely, from vain moneybags by pretentious snobs – both of them actually don’t give a damn about artistic truth, they are only chasing fashionable names. However, there is also an irony addressed to philistine stereotypes: the sacramental phrase “Yes, a five-year-old child can draw better!” pronounced by “experts” like Andrey and Anton. Patrice reveals a deep understanding of art, thanks to which she manages not only to figure out Reggie’s profession, but also to discern his soul in his works (this soul, of course, turns out to be suffering and misunderstood – we must somehow convince the audience to sympathize with the cold-blooded killer).

The criminal intrigue here is also quite predictable, and the task of maintaining the audience’s interest falls on the shoulders of the actors. They generally cope with it: if Jackson goes with the flow, not showing anything new and relying on his signature charm, then Thurman creates a really interesting image of a woman, in general quite unpleasant, but making you want to root for him almost against your will. everything worked out for her. At the same time, their on-screen friendly “chemistry” is undeniable even in the most formulaic episodes. In addition to this couple in the cast, we can highlight Amy Kim in the role of Patrice’s assistant, who launches the Bagman’s fame, while remaining radiantly unaware of the true background of this whole matter. The final scam turns out to be not very convincing and rather immoral, but, frankly, I don’t want to find fault with the picture with formal logic – after all, that’s how the artist sees it.