Red

'Red' is John Logan's fantastic biopic of Mark Rothko starring Alfred Molina as the self-indulgent Abstract Expressionist and Eddie Redmayne as his assistant. Set in the period when Rothko and Pollock were at the height of their fame, just after Pollock's death it brings all of Rothko's insecurities into the forefront as an artist being rubbed out by the next best thing - the massively popular Pop Art culture that was a product of the Brand culture at the start of American consumerism.

More than the brief look into Rothko's life, albeit fictional, I enjoyed Logan's tightly written playscript. He covers themes that are still relevant for artists even today and pokes at the artists that still sell-out to consumer brands today, whatever new form they may take. He grapples with vivid language to bring out startlingly simple images of death related to white snow for example. If I was to make any criticism of the written work it would be to say that the writing holds no surprises. The story has a predictable rhythm, the words are well-chosen and build the mounting tension ver well.

Molina is exacting and precise in his performance. Unlike most US actors who fail abysmally when they take to the stage, Molina's British stage training holds out well for him and he delivered an enjoyable performance, one that I would recommend to any artist to attend before the 6th of Feb 2010.