“Not an Artist” (2023) is a comedy about seven people whom The Abbott (Bobby “The RZA” Diggs) selected for a thirty-day residency to devote to their art. Each person gets a studio and living quarters in a cabin and is required to wear a uniform of bule coveralls with artist stenciled in red thread on the breast pocket. They sign a contract called “The Artist’s Pledge” agreeing to never create art again if they do not complete the project detailed in their proposal, or The Abbott will sue them. Alice (cowriter and codirector Alexi Pappas) is so committed to this opportunity and herself that she asks her single dad, Dr. Charles Marigold (Matt Walsh), not to contact her for the next thirty days, but he finds it challenging to keep that promise. Who will admit that they are not an artist and receive the reward of relief from letting go of expectations and who will complete their work, live up to their full creative potential and receive a $100,000 grant? Stop reading this review and start watching this delightful movie about how each person figures out the next step after a lifetime of not confronting the person who they want to be versus the person that they are.
Even though it is an ensemble affair, Alice is the protagonist. She wants to make a young adult fantasy adventure audiobook series, but she suffers from writer’s block. Her dad owns a RV and wants to visit fifteen national parks while continuing his medical practice via telehealth, but from the onset, his journey keeps hitting speed bumps. Once she and the artists begin their residency, they are elated to devote all their attention to their art but soon discover that time should not be conflated with results. Pappas is simultaneously so normal and odd that moviegoers will find it easy to relate to her. She conveys the absolute agony over not having what she needs to move forward like her dad’s inability to excel outside of his routine. How did she get her hands so red in a cathartic scene?!? Happy accident or next level acting? The key to becoming unstuck lies in the other. It is probably the cheesiest part of “Not an Artist” and perhaps is too pat and punks out, but it ultimately works.
Walsh, who is also one of the cowriters, is a brilliant comedic actor whom many will recognize from “Veep.” His former costar, Dan Bakkedahl, appears as Mr. Marlon, an avid nature lover, in one kooky scene that goes in an unexpected direction. For the viewers with zero desire to tap into their creative side, the doctor’s journey will be the one whose life and goofs will resonate the most. He visits his brother, Dominic (Paul Lieberstein from “The Office”), and a former love interest, Beth (Morgan Walsh). He also vents about his daddy daughter estrangement to a soft-spoken ranger (Betsy Sodaro) just trying to do her job.
RZA as the mysterious benefactor is an eccentric genius creation. “Not an Artist” never reveals where The Abbott got all his money, but his story of being a failed painter is a universal unexplored desire of the fantasy of what could have been dying on the rocks of reality. He offers an opportunity to the residents to share his epiphany, that even under ideal circumstances, some people are not artists no matter how much they want to be. The Abbott is a confident man who knows who he is and gets people, but he also still feels the pain of not being able to live up to his dream, which gives credibility to the character. He is spending his life near those who have the unattainable and indescribable. It is a difficult balancing act because if written or performed in a slightly different way, The Abbott would seem manipulative, terrifying or give the vibe of a pretentious success who confuses wealth for wisdom. Sure he rarely stops talking like a guru, but it is rooted in an authentic truth and emotion. If he was one of our oligarchs, we would be ok. Also there was always a danger that if he was too kind and inspirational, he would enter the minefield of becoming a Magical Negro, but he has his own life, desires and frustrations.
Regardless of how much screentime each resident gets, it is easy to imagine their entire life and personality. Wesley (Haley Joel Osment) is a rich kid with aspirations to become the next Vincent Van Gogh. Indigo Maya Braithwaite (Cleopatra Coleman) is a clay sculptor trying to escape the gravitational pull of her famous artist mom’s legacy. Dante (Gata) is just a weird Black guy from South Central with aspirations to become an animator. Claire (Ciara Bravo) is a striver who decides to take a gap year before going to a prestigious college and find out if she wants to engage in art. Rosalind Chao as a professor turned playwright Kimmy will make you demand a sequel. In an extremely talented cast, Chao stands out as a straight person whose voice is very clear even when she is silent. Each of her facial reactions is worth a million bucks, and when she clashes with Christopher (Clark Moore), a Twitter poet, without either of them being overtly hostile, her polite resentment is honest and clear. I want to meet Kimmy and hang out with her! As the older woman, she is just excited to take a break and does not entirely mind when people treat her like her day job but knows the precise moment when she is done. She is a sweet, open presence who knows when to close the door.
“Not an Artist” never loses steam even when the quirky, isolated world of the artists collides with the outside world. The varied combinations of individuals result in unexpected prism of insight about each character. By the end, there is even a revelation about The Notary (Robert Schwartzman, who is Talia Shire’s son, Jason’s brother and Francis Ford Coppola’s nephew). Married couple Pappas and her husband, codirector and cowriter Jeremy Teicher, care about the details and somehow nail the elusive, hilarious, dry humor of the absurd yet approachable scenario. Editor Ohs matches the rhythm of each scenario and the directing choices convey the emotion of each scene instead of obstructing it—looking at you, “Wicked” (2024). Unlike “Nightbitch” (2024), the concept of artist feels visceral, not theoretical. There is so much variety packed into such a small, delectable package.
The secret sauce of “Not an Artist” is the bedrock of understanding the practical necessity of how each character relates to money: who needs it, who does not. Only Charles gets shown engaging in his day job, and his interactions with his patients reach “You Hurt My Feelings” (2023) levels of excellence, but everyone’s identity is wrapped up in this marker. Jobs or wealth have a way of taking center stage even though everyone is wearing a uniform which should erase all socioeconomic markers, but it is impossible.
“Not an Artist” is such a sweet, offbeat, hilarious and heartfelt film. Imagine adults taking a break from the outside world to pursue their wildest dreams and ready to reenter the normal world knowing themselves better. It is a fantasy of an adult summer camp devoted to self-realization and an image of utopia without erasing the hard work of confronting the lies that we tell ourselves.
