Velvet Buzzsaw isn’t a particularly coherent film, but it is a pretty enjoyable one. It’s the latest from writer/director, Dan Gilroy, impressed with his directorial debut in 2014 with Nightcrawler, and disappointed us with his less than stellar follow up, Roman J. Israel, Esq. Upon first look, it seems like a complete departure from his usual work. It’s a horror comedy that satirizes the LA art scene, which follows a colorful cast of characters who are forced to reckon with a sinister supernatural force when they try to use recently discovered art from an unknown artist to advance their own careers and satisfy their greed.
Gilroy’s films may seem varied, but they often cover similar themes and the significance of their setting in LA, especially regarding greed and the effects of it, not only to the individual, but also society. Nightcrawler dealt with shady journalistic ethics in relation to the audience’s demand for violent crime footage and how the lead character fed on all the worst impulses of that system for profit. Roman J. Israel, Esq. explored a flawed justice system, and how a disenchanted lawyer falls into the temptation of greed, going against the principles he previously held dearly.
The thing about Velvet Buzzsaw is that it delves into these themes on a very broad and blunt level. The satire of the art world, which reminds me of the 2017 film, The Square, relies on a lot of familiar archetypes. The biggest, most obvious being the over-the-top art critic – and I swear I’m not making this name up – Morf Vandewalt (Jake Gyllenhaal). He muses in deliciously pretentious ways, comments on the color of a casket during a funeral; it’s like he revels in the sound of his own voice. We also have Rhodora Haze (Rene Russo), a rocker turned gallery owner who sees sales potential for the discovered paintings, Gretchen (Toni Collette), a curator who is equally enamored with the paintings, and Josephina (Zawe Ashton), a gallery receptionist who initially stole the paintings after finding the dead body of the artist. We even have smaller roles with actors like Billy Magnussen, John Malkovich, Natalia Dyer, and Daveed Diggs, who all each get to make a solid impression with their limited screen time.
There isn’t a single likable character in the film, but they remain engaging because there’s enough detail and design to how they present themselves and create a dynamic with one another. Despite what you might expect with the caliber of talent involved, the basic structure sticks pretty close to a slasher type formula, the kind where you’re practically rooting for everyone to get killed by the big bad as things escalate over the course of the film. Gilroy delivers the material with a wink, almost playing it like a parody of the ridiculous notion of “elevated horror.” The characters are delightfully self-absorbed, and meticulously drawn, I was effortlessly entertained.
That said, the film is still a bit on the messy side. Because the satire is pointed in such a broad and way, it lacks a much needed edge. And while Gilroy’s usual cinematographer, Robert Elswit, returns here, I found myself really missing the grainy, grimy texture that their previous collaborations had because they were shot on film. The digital cinematography is a little too clean, a little too elegant, and it doesn’t reflect the trashy attitude that the film has, like an early Alex Cox film or something similar. Plus, it was disappointing to see that only one death sequence indulged in full bloody glory. For a film that has plenty of bark, it was in desperate need of bite.
So, yeah, Velvet Buzzsaw is not perfect by any stretch. However, there’s a conviction to some deeply weird images and ideas that charmed the hell out of me, and I have made made it pretty clear before that I’m a big admirer of big swing filmmaking, and this is one mighty – if a tad sloppy – swing. Seeing these actors dig into these smarmy characters, and in Gyllenhaal’s case, go full ham, is a total joy to behold. I can see its choices being a turn off for a lot of people, but there’s definitely an audience that I can see discovering this and going absolutely nuts over it. I do wish it leaned into its slimy impulses even harder, but I still really enjoyed myself. Whatever it is that Dan Gilroy had to tap into for a story like this, I hope he digs into that even more.