Movie Summary of Local Color by Michael the Moviegoer.
LOCAL COLOR = ***
“Armin Mueller-Stahl Shows His True Colors”
George Gallo’s autobiographical “Local Color” is the ultimate leading-man showcase for veteran German actor Armin Mueller-Stahl. Well recognized as a character actor by nearly anyone who goes to the movies, this movie is all about his performance as a famous painter who mentors a teenage boy in the summer of 1974.
The movie is wonderfully heartfelt throughout. It manages to be a mix of warm, funny, uplifting and tragic all at the same time. A particularly hilarious scene involves a debate about classical and modern art between the old-school Mueller-Stahl and a young art dealer brilliantly played by Ron Perlman. Even Samantha Mathis shows up as a dual love-interest and her performance is so strong it makes us wonder where she’s been hiding lately.
For a film primarily about art and painting, Gallo wisely puts a lot of care into the cinematography. Here’s a movie where the simple establishing shots are just breathtaking.
DVD Double-Feature: Armin Mueller-Stahl’s voice and face will be well known to many moviegoers as a supporting player. He rarely receives a lead role as he has in “Local Color”. In fact, the last one that comes to mind is Barry Levinson’s “Avalon” from 1990. Mueller-Stahl plays an immigrant taking his family from poverty to prosperity. It co-stars a very young Elijah Wood.
Michael The Moviegoer
