Review: You just have to love hipsters. Or at least that’s what I thought after watching Morgan Neville’s The Cool School. Yes, this is a film about a group of artists, but they are hipsters through and through: men and women who loved success, fame and parties almost as much as the creation of art itself. They were going to change perceptions and have fun doing it. But you don’t want a history lesson, you want a film review, and Neville’s documentary will generally captivate you with the story of this ragtag group of offbeat artists. Admittedly, I’m not much of an art guru and though I’ve studied enough to know the styles and some of the major names, for the most part I can’t carry an in-depth conversation on the subject unless I am provided with some notes. For this reason, there were moments were I was lost or at least wishing I had more knowledge of the art scene while watching The Cool School. Don’t get me wrong, Neville does a pretty good job of educating the non-artist, but his focus is clearly geared to those who appreciate 20th century art and there is only so much he can do before he loses this base audience. Don’t let that stop you from watching this documentary, but be aware that a brief Wikipedia summary might be in order before you sit down. Now what Neville does well is create a sort of art house film. No, it’s not so abstract that you wouldn’t find it on a regular TV channel, but The Cool School does contain just a little bit of the art house flair Andy Warhol or any one of these other featured artists would appreciate. Whether it’s the black and white interviews, recreations of group photos 35 years after they were first captured, or a wonderfully artistic scene where the only color shown is the bright pink paint an artist is about to use, art aficionados should appreciate this film for its technical merits. There is one main knock about Neville’s direction that limits Cool School from becoming a truly memorable film: it lacks focus. Everything about this film points to a story about two men who start an art gallery that will one day rival the art scene in New York. But along the way, Neville seems to get star struck. He wants to focus on the two men and their lives (which are extremely fascinating), but you can almost picture him secretly desiring more time with the artists themselves. The end result is a documentary that sways from one subject matter to the other at irregular intervals. Don’t get me wrong, Neville would have committed a major sin if he had ignored the artists entirely, but by remaining ambivalent over who the star should be, he left Cool School filled with a bunch of supporting actors without a main character to support. With that said, it’s hard to not like Cool School. Not only is it about art, but it’s also fun and worth the cost and time to view it. If you’re into art, then that’s all the more reason to pick up Neville’s film. If you’re not, you should still find time to watch it so you can one day use your new found knowledge about the Ferus Gallery to sound cool and important. Though it’s not a memorable or great film, you won’t regret the time spent in this “Cool School” (for the record, that pun was painful for me to write). Review by Matthew Abshire Informative: 3.5- though it waffles between the artists and the two gallery owners, it provides a lot of depth Entertainment: 3.5- for art newbies, this may drag at times, but there are enough engaging points to keep you entertained Technical: 4- a lack of focus hurts, but I think this is a mainstream film Warhol and his buddies would approve Overall: 3.5- it won’t stick out as a great film, but it should pique your interest on a brief art movement from the 1950s.
 
Format: DVD Year: 2007 Running Time: 86 Min Distributor: Arthouse Films Producer: Kristine Mckenna Director: Morgan Neville Date Reviewed: 8-30-2009 Story: In the late 1950s, when Pollock and de Kooning were being hailed as revolutionary artists in New York, Los Angeles was still dealing with a blacklist that gutted creativity in all media. This is the story of the two men who changed all that. Recording a pledge on a hot dog wrapper to open a cutting-edge gallery, Walter Hopps and Ed Kienholz took the West Coast art world by storm, embracing artists from Marcel Duchamp to Andy Warhol (NetFlix).