Pollock

After being delayed for almost 18 months, Ed Harris' passionate and graceful biopic of one of the most influential artists of the modern age, Jackson Pollock, finally gets a well-deserved release. Directed by its star, Harris plays Pollock (there's an uncanny physical resemblance between the two men) and takes up his story circa 1941 and brings it right up his death in a car accident in 1956.

Rather than attempting to understand what inspired the man, Harris prefers to show his subject in a harsh but realistic light, complete with his numerous flairs (alcoholism, depression and a short fuse being chief among them). The film may not hold any surprises in its structure - this is conventional rise and fall stuff - but the performances (especially from Gay Harden and the excellent Harris) are superb, and the ultimate final product is an emotionally charged excursion.