A tale of a young and impressionable woman who is seduced by a more decadent side of life, "High Art" features some well written characters that result in several good performances. However, the film ultimately suffers from a sloth-like plot that, beyond being slow, also fails to draw much empathy from the audience. While this picture will never break out from its select urban theater locations, it may become popular among its highly targeted audience.
As such, first time writer and director Lisa Cholodenko does a decent job in her big screen debut and won the Waldo Salt screenwriting award at this year's Sundance Film Festival. Much stronger in characterization than plotting, she creates people who are interesting and complex beings. While Cholodenko presents a moderately interesting plot, the fact that it's often unbearably slow and closely resembles the methodic and "hazy" behavior of her drugged out characters doesn't exactly benefit this novice auteur.
The performances, however, are quite good. Thirty-five-year-old Ally Sheedy, who "grew up" during the 1980's in films such as "War Games," "The Breakfast Club," and "Short Circuit," plays so far against her old stereotype that it's amazing that this is the same actress. Looking and emoting like a much older, world-weary and weathered character, she's completely believable in her role. Although her character is never really likeable and thus doesn't elicit much sympathy from the audience, she's always interesting to watch. There's no doubt that this is Sheedy's best performance of her career and it may land her stronger roles down the road.
The same holds true for Radha Mitchell (1996's "Love and Other Catastrophes"). Completely engaging in her role as the young woman whose life is changing before her own eyes, Mitchell perfectly balances her character's aggressive work-related tendencies with her completely believable, youth-based insecurities. With a natural beauty about her and a strong, personable acting style, don't be surprised to see Mitchell doing bigger and better things in the future.
Meanwhile, although Patricia Clarkson ("Jumanji") is quite good as the drug-addicted German actress, her character is so zoned out and lethargic that she comes off as neither sympathetic nor likeable. While it's a testament to Clarkson's acting, her character's presence on screen is nearly always disagreeable and definitely isn't fun to behold.
While some may find the film's pacing congruous with the storyline -- a slow developing love affair that's in no hurry to get its characters in bed -- I found the proceedings a bit slow and mostly too predictable (although the end, while not outrageously surprising, does come out of the blue). Even so, the performances keep the film interesting and they should please audiences not taken aback by the lesbianism or rampant drug use. We give "High Art" -- a decent, but not great writing and directorial debut from Cholodenko -- a 4.5 out of 10.