Fresh on the heels of his Oscar loss, here's a trailer for another doc about Bansky, this time made by someone other than Banksy. It examines the hypocrisy and commerce involved in art industry and how old rules get complicated when applied to the street art movement by following a guy who is literally trying to sell a piece of Bansky's art that he (sort of) took off a wall. That's a little bit interesting, but it seems like Exit Through the Giftshop already covered the same territory with more wit and style. Also, the characters in this film seem like jerks and I am not interested to spend an entire movie with them.
Maybe calling people I only know from a preview jerks is a bit much, but the main character in this preview seriously exudes zero charisma. Mostly, he seems limited to self-satisfied jokes about his silly mission to sell a stolen piece of Bansky.
Occasionally, the trailer branches out a bit to examine street art commerce on a larger scale, but we mostly keep returning to this one guy and his stolen Banksy piece, which may or may not be worthless. A few years ago I may have overlooked the shortcomings of the trailer itself and latched onto the overall concept of the film, but honestly, after Exit Through the Giftshop and so many articles about how people go about selling and defacing Banksy's art, I don't see what the film can possibly offer in terms of novel ideas or new angles.
Verdict: Pass.
[Via / Film]