In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.

pollock starring ed harris , marcia gay harden , tom bower , jennifer connelly screenplay by barbara turner and susan j .
emshwiller , based on the book " jackson pollock : an american saga " by steven naifeh and gregory white smith directed by ed harris
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" how do you know when you 're finished making love ?
"
-jackson pollock to a life magazine reporter on recognizing when you 've completed a painting jackson pollock 's " making love
" quote is famous , but in practically the same breath , he said a more constructive thing , " it 's like looking at a bed of flowers -- tear your hair out over what it means .
"
it took him sixteen words to do as whole dissertations have tried and failed : equate god and abstract art and offer a kind of backhanded comfort to those confused to the point of resentment by the concept .
the biopic _ pollock _ , actor ed harris ' directorial debut
, reflects the second soundbite in how it accepts pollock 's creations as part of the order of things , and should similarly disarm haters of fine art .
arguably more than any other living actor , harris , who also plays _ pollock _ , embodies the archetypal working stiff , and his blue - collar demystification of pollock 's labour - intensive art , both as performer and director , makes for unpretentious cinema .
( from what i know of harris , he , like pollock , was not born gifted or lucky ; instead , a strong work ethic is the seed of his success . )
granted , it 's possible that _ pollock _ will alienate those same viewers perplexed by the imponderable " purpose " of pollock 's splatter series : the common thread between them is a lack of editorializing .
the movie _ pollock
_ is all purposeful gazes and silent exchanges dotted by tantrums , but the motivations are left to our own perceptions .
and it is a sympathetic yet not altogether forgiving film , as illustrated by a disheartening conclusion .
_ pollock
_ encapsulates the period in which he fought a losing battle against personal demons ( alcoholism , depression , and the general attendant miseries of an artist ) while finding a place of subconscious expression .
a brief introduction to pollock 's raging drunk side segues into his getting accosted by a fellow new york artist , lee krasner ( marcia gay harden ,
awarded a best supporting actress oscar for this brilliant portrayal ) , who works from the outside - in , pre - intellectualizing every stroke of her brush .
in a scene after they have moved in together and established adjoining studios , she asks what he hopes to achieve on his latest canvas , grilling him about the interplay of cubism and surrealism until he says , " you paint the fucking thing , " and leaves in a huff .
by the time they we d , she has become his de facto manager ; it is form marrying function and chaos marrying discipline , a most harmonious collision .
( krasner denies him a baby , indicating that it would upset the balance . )
such a union is destined to implode , and i hope i 'm not ruining the _ pollock _ experience by saying that it does .
while it is never depicted as a very romantic matrimony to start -- pollock and wife channel their passions elsewhere -- their symbiosis leaves each other picked dry after several years , and it comes down to krasner suffering one of pollock 's conniptions too many : " you are killing me !
you are killing me !
you are killing me ! "
( aside : harris ' own wife , amy madigan , is unrecognizable and exceptional as gallery diva peggy guggenheim . )
pollock himself moves on to dalliances with younger women like ruth klingman ( the scorching jennifer connelly ) , hoping , one supposes , to catch the revitalizing whiff of youth .
i love jackson pollock 's stuff and
i am enamoured of harris ' _ pollock _ as well .
it 's scrappy and observant ; no coincidence that its minor failings are the occasional invasive flourish , such as jeff beal 's hummable but no less lamentable score -- i ca n't imagine that pollock , or anyone , would paint to this music , which puts filling soundtrack voids ahead of complementing the images .
one of my favourite sequences is an eerily quiet re - enactment of hans namuth shooting that famous pollock footage in east hampton , long island ; the mounting tension is almost comic , as namuth keeps interrupting pollock 's process to reload his camera or take a dinner break .
a more seasoned director might 've been too arrogant to admit that not all artists or mediums are created equal .
P

it has been 20 years since a terrence malick film hit theaters .
his new film , the thin red line , is a strange , beautiful , enigmatic mess of a movie .
the first thing that jumps out to one when they see the advertisements for this film is the huge cast .
it is filled with above - the - title stars .
the cast , for the most part , gives great performances .
john travolta , whose role is nothing more than a cameo , seems not to have attacked his performance with that much verve .
george clooney , whose role became a cameo in editing , gives a strange performance .
one wonders if he knew that his performance would become the object of ridicule through a character 's narration .
the rest of the cast , especially nick nolte and elias koteas , are unambiguously fantastic .
these actors ( and they are , with two exceptions , men ) were lured by the name of malick .
terrence malick is a cinematic legend .
he has often been called " the j .
d .
salinger of cinema .
"
his two previous films , badlands and days of heaven , are spectacularly beautiful and obscure motion pictures .
after he made them , he disappeared for 20 years .
this film marks his return .
what he 's made with the thin red line is a film that seems less concerned with plot than with the emotion of the moment .
the narration which fills the film ( and perplexes many ) not only lets us hear the narrators ( the characters themselves ) pontificate , but also lets us hear such of - the - moment thoughts as " i 'm scared .
"
the rather simple plot of the thin red line is used as a canvas on which many stories are painted .
the plot couldly simply be boiled down to an assault on a hill .
a plot synopsis for the thin red line is difficult , because the story is fractured .
many stories are here , from the clash between the lieutenant ( elias koteas ) and the savage colonel ( a voracious nick nolte ) to the private ( ben chaplin ) who uses his love for the woman he left behind to keep him going .
the fracturing of the story is ultimately a fault .
it is as if an artist spent an incredible amount of time artfully sculpting tiny statues and then threw them into a box , shook the box , and poured the results onto a table .
this basically creates a mess , but the stories can be discerned and enjoyed .
i 'm not declaring that the film has no structure .
while saving private ryan used warfare to bookend the plot , malick uses reflection and glorious shots of nature to bookend about 90 minutes of combat .
the battles in the thin red line are astonishing and display a mastery of filmmaking . the astounding cinematography in this film must also be given notice .
this film uses color and light in such a fantastic way , that it will be sad to see it degraded when it has to bee transferred to video .
ultimately , malick has crafted a film that is a movie that enjoys looking through the treetops more than regarding the war that rages below them .
the film is filled with nature photography and the regarding of nature .
while some have said that the anti - war message and pro - nature tubthumping was juvenile , it was done with so much complexity and thought , that it can not ever honestly be called childish .
after seeing the thin red line , i was haunted by it and am quite ready to see it again .
P

it seemed wholly appropriate that at a weekend screening of " the horse whisperer , " the start of the film was delayed some twenty minutes due to " projection difficulties .
"
robert redford 's film version of nicholas evans ' best - selling novel was supposed to have been in theaters last december , going head - to - head with " titanic , " but is only now making its much anticipated debut .
this ( strategic ? )
delay has allowed " the horse whisperer " to compete , sans fanfare , against some smaller , unassuming movies during a relatively slower time at the box office .
no matter .
redford 's film stands head and shoulders above james cameron 's ocean - going tragedy , especially in the writing and acting departments .
whatever the reasons for its postponement , " the horse whisperer " supports the old adage " better late than never .
"
redford has taken evans ' book and given it the big screen treatment .
while parts of " the horse whisperer " are epic in scope and vision , especially the aerial " travelogue " that maps out this great country of ours , its real strength lies in the subtleties it uses to paint the fragile alliance between man and beast .
when her daughter , grace , is involved in a terrible riding accident , hard - driven fashion editor annie maclean ( kristin scott thomas ) devotes herself to rehabilitating both grace and grace 's beloved horse , pilgrim . refusing to have the hideously disfigured animal put down , annie researches every possible source of information about equine cures before discovering an article about a faith - healing cowboy of sorts called tom booker ( redford ) , who has a way with horses and , perhaps , with people too .
undeterred by tom 's initial reluctance to get involved , annie drives grace and a sedated pilgrim across country to meet him , and finally persuades tom to work with the uncontrollable animal .
redford 's film unfolds slowly and lovingly , echoing the patience required in healing both physical and psychological wounds .
the film 's a little long and , even if you have n't read the book , it 's pretty obvious where it 's heading -- but these are minor complaints .
redford and thomas are strong and convincing
as the couple drawn by a mutual affection for the great outdoors and each other ,
but it 's scarlett johansson as grace who shines in a more difficult role .
dianne wiest , chris cooper ( " lone star " ) , and sam neill -- better than i 've seen him before -- round out the respectable supporting cast .
and the director 's respect for horses is clearly in evidence .
one word of warning , however : while brilliantly shot
, the accident scene , involving an out - of - control truck , is extremely disturbing .
redford 's canvas is huge and exquisite .
he does n't hesitate to incorporate vast , sprawling vistas of the american northwest : spectacular , snow - capped mountain ranges , azure skies , and shimmering fields of wheat -- all are resplendent in cinematographer robert richardson 's viewfinder .
veteran english composer john barry was originally signed to score the film but left the project which is a pity , since " the horse whisperer " is " dances with wolves " by way of " out of africa " ( oscar winners both for barry ) .
fortunately , barry 's replacement , thomas newman , contributes a fine score that nicely balances
the majesty of montana with the delicate , human conditions -- sonorous , string - laden passages that swell with pride playing counterpoint to more poetic , introspective movements ripe with nuance .
"
the horse whisperer " is
that rare kind of movie :
it looks good , it feels good , and by golly it does you good .
the wait , it turns out , was well worth it .

P