SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

FeistyUpper If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Sharkflei Your blood may run cold, but you now find yourself pinioned to the story.

PiraBit if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

Michael Ledo Daniel (Gabriel Mann) is a struggling artist. His girlfriend (Jill Flint) thinks he is great, but the art community has left him behind. His critics claim his original works copy the styles of other artist. His despair is artificially heightened by a much too loud violin soundtrack. However, in the real criminal world, being able to reproduce the brush strokes of famous artists has a certain amount of commercial value.His girlfriend is not enthusiastic about the whole forgery thing. The movie attempts to make us pity poor poor Daniel with a pathetic soundtrack as he produces fakes and sells for healthy profit. Seriously? They go out of their way to try to make us feel sorry for a guy who is going to forge paintings because he lacks the love and support of his girlfriend (also in the art business). Spielberg cleverly made me all teary eyed when Darth Vader died, but an arrogant artist who we don't like anyway? Who is Friedle trying to kid? Super rich snobbish art collectors getting ripped off by fake paintings. Not even with violin music could this break my heart. Gabriel Mann does some first person narration on the noble history of art forgery. Where is the director supposed to be going with this?In a subplot Tay Murphy (David Thornton) who wears his hair like Judd Nelson in "The Breakfast Club" is a dishonest art gallery owner and gambler way down on his luck. Like the cavalry, these Irish bad guys rescue the film from being a lame indie flop.Like most artists, Daniel's biggest flaw is his ego. He has a small almost secret cross star that he inserts into all of his paintings. Good acting by the support cast. In the beginning the film seems like it is an Indy docudrama taken from a 60 minutes episode.The film picks up when the jazz starts to play. The ending was a bit awkward. It appears that the writer painted himself into a corner and couldn't get out without cliche mobster antics.F-bombs, no real sex- just some rolling around in bed, no nudity.

waikiki12 Attention-grabbing opener as the camera pans a room revealing the principal actors of "Fake". A voice-over self-describes the artist (Gabriel Mann) who claims to have paintings hanging in museums all over the world and who has made "millions of dollars doing it but no one knows" his name. Flash-back 21 years earlier. A mother drags a young boy through a museum/art gallery. They stop and the mother shows the boy the painting that ruined his father's life. She curses the painting and warns the boy not to waste his life on such foolishness. But as the camera cuts to the boy, it is obvious from the look in his eyes that he, like his father, has fallen under its spell. As the opening credits play; the artist is carefully and deliberately applying loving strokes to his canvas. When he has finished, he stares at it mesmerized until his girlfriend (Jill Flint) interrupts his preoccupation to tell him she's leaving for work. At her office, we learn she is an art authenticator.After being passed over at a showing and suffering a series of harsh rejections, Daniel succumbs to the temptation of creating a fake. He passes his painting off with particular delight onto a snooty dealer (Blanche Baker) who had earlier called him a "talentless little sh*t". From here, the story takes us off into the world of art galleries; collectors and dealers who buy and sell paintings; forgeries; authenticators; FBI investigators and the artists who create them. The story offers a fascinating look at the art world played against the background of a basic love story between a struggling young artist willing to compromise his art for recognition and the loyal girlfriend torn between her love for him and her job. However, the script is often-times done in by the over-the-top performances of Robert Loggia's mob-boss character who screams his lines; his minion son (Robert Clohessy) and the son's corrupt friend (David Thornton) who act out stereotypical roles of gangster-wannabe and childhood screw-up buddy. Fisher Steven, as the dogged-FBI forger-agent, in pursuit of them, does his best in a minor role and gives a welcomed counterbalance performance. "Fake" would be a most satisfactory watch if there had been a more definitive ending. After investing an hour and forty-five minutes on the movie, the audience is left in a precarious darkness as to the fate of the artist and his girlfriend; as well as that of those who most profited from his fakes. 

habanamick This is a gem of a movie about a frustrated young artist who turns to fakes to get a payday. Many are willing to turn a careless or blind eye for financial gain and soon he's entangled with a failed gallery owner and then New England mob boss/collector Seamus White invoking an older and possibly meaner version of Whitey Bolger.Realistic portrayal of the world of galleries and painting. Action moving along all the way with strong setting, plot, as well as a great sound track. Robert Loggia as the crime boss, Fisher Stevens as the lone FBI agent assigned to the art crimes unit, David Thornton as the failing gallery owner, and Robert Clohessy as the son of the crime boss all providing strong characterizations. Where have they been hiding this movie? Gabriel Mann as the young painter soon over his head and Jill Flint as the girlfriend and art expert who can spot the fakes. Blanche Baker a savvy gallery owner not asking too many questions.Great movie beginning to end especially if you have any interest in the art world.