Beauty Is Embarrassing (2012)
Average Rating: 7.4/10
Reviews Counted: 29
Fresh: 27 | Rotten: 2
No consensus yet.
Average Rating: 7.5/10
Critic Reviews: 12
Fresh: 11 | Rotten: 1
No consensus yet.
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Average Rating: 4.1/5
User Ratings: 573
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Raised in the mountains of Tennessee, Wayne White started his career as a cartoonist in New York City. He quickly found success as one of the creators of the TV show, Pee-wee's Playhouse, which led to more work designing some of the most arresting and iconic images in pop culture. The film chronicles the vaulted highs and the crushing lows of a commercial artist struggling to find peace and balance between his work and his art. -- (C) Official Site
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All Critics (30) | Top Critics (13) | Fresh (27) | Rotten (2)
"Beauty Is Embarrassing" is an undeniably likable film, mainly because White is a likable guy who believes comedy is at least as important as tragedy.
Top CriticNeil Berkeley's infectiously affectionate portrait of artist, puppeteer and genially profane provocateur Wayne White.
An amiable if not especially urgent celebration of the life and work of Wayne White.
It remains a story at all times - there's a moment at a book signing that will give you a big smile and goosebumps - and it keeps throwing great things to look at up on the screen.
His art is a force that can't be contained: No wonder he felt so at home in the warped environs of Pee-wee's Playhouse.
The doc meanders occasionally, but we're grateful when it comes back to White and his creations.
Judging from this documentary, his character is as exuberant as his work, and he seems to be one of those lucky people who simply can't stop creating...
If for no other reason, the film should at least be seen for its visuals -- or, rather, for White's visuals.
Using animation, CGI and stop-motion, and mixing analog and digital video, director Berkeley transforms 'Beauty Is Embarrassing' into a White-inspired but Berkeley made work of pop-folk art
It's ... indulgent, not admitting that White's new gimmick wears out its welcome, and never making the case that White deserves his own documentary.
This isn't necessarily a life-altering work, but there's no denying that the fun White gets out of his work is pretty irresistible.
Beauty is Embarrassing is a funny, enormously entertaining film, built around an autobiographical show White performs for a theater audience.
These moments elevate Beauty Is Embarrassing beyond mere tribute to an undersung artist into a far rarer thing: a glimpse into the galvanizing effect art -- good art, bad art, fine art, folk art, or 5th-grader art -- can have.
An embraceable tale of childhood mischief, teenage rebellion, award-winning creativity and enduring imagination.
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The film is oddball, almost impressionistic - much like its subject. It becomes deeply moving, however, when he journeys back to his hometown to start a project with a lifelong friend who experienced a much-different artistic life. They work on a project together which almost feels like the statement of their lives. They engage an entire school's art department to build a larger-than-life puppet and prance it around town. To see the looks on the eyes of the children as they gape at this creation is to truly know how much art can mean to people in their lives. It is pure magic and so is this film.