The story: Two men, a pretty gallery owner, and a whole lot of ego. Adrian Jacobs (Adam Goldberg) is a scowling, post-modern musician who takes himself far too seriously. An experimental composer whose work involves metal buckets, tearing paper, bubble wrap and other bits of atonal sound, he's torn between a desire for his work to be discovered by an audience and utter contempt for everything popularity would bring. Meanwhile, Adrian’s brother Josh (Eion Bailey) rakes in piles of money from his bland paintings that art dealer Madeleine Gray (Marley Shelton) sells to hotels and hospitals, yet he dreams of getting a real gallery show so that he can be taken seriously as an artist. Adrian finds himself drawn to Madeleine, despite being baffled by what she considers valuable art -- her prize client, Ray Barko (Vinnie Jones), a transparent riff on British artist Damien Hirst, creates bizarre, pop concoctions from taxidermied animals, while conceptual artist Monroe (Ptolemy Slocum) creates minimalist pieces with titles like "Pushpin Stuck Into Wall."
So, what is art, anyway? Most films that make fun of the art world don't really understand that world at all. They aim squarely at audiences who stare, befuddled, at paintings and say, "My kid could make that," serving to comfort the uninformed that, indeed, art is a scam perpetrated by pretentious asshats and con men. (Untitled) could have fallen into that category -- certainly, it mocks the process of modern art and music, but it does so with a firm grasp of what's wrong with the way art is viewed and sold, while asking surprisingly cogent questions about what art actually is, what it means, and what makes it worthy. Adrian disdains people who don't appreciate the genius of his compositions, yet he dismisses the work in Madeleine's gallery as goofy twaddle. The woman who buys Josh's art for her business clients loves his paintings, yet Madeleine keeps them all in the back room, where the "commercial" stuff is hidden from collectors like Porter Canby (Zak Orth), who only buys art for the financial investment.
"I know what I like" is a valid viewpoint, after all. Director Jonathan Parker (Bartleby), who co-wrote (Untitled) with Catherine di Napoli, views all of these clashing egos with a dry satirical tone, gently mocking the intense sincerity with which all these people approach something that is, at its foundation, pretty silly. It's not a deep film, never really delving beneath the surface or exploring the motivations of the personalities involved, but as a comedy of manners set in the world of art and commerce, it hits all the right notes. Hilariously flavored with an inventive (and tonally appropriate) score by David Lang, it's a delicious, small film that ultimately champions personal expression over pretense.