Out of the Picture (2024)

Out of the Picture

Whoever said “nobody likes a critic” never met Mary Louise Schumacher. The Milwaukee filmmaker, who served as the last art critic at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, recently premiered her first film, Out of the Picture. Instead of creating a documentary about criticism, however, she made one that brings critics across the country off the page and onto the big screen for a deeply human story about art, criticism and digital-age journalism.

“I don’t think that I can point to any popular culture depiction of art critics where they aren’t a stand-in for snobby elitism or out-of-touch weirdos,” says Artnet News National Art Critic Ben Davis at the start of the movie. This voiceover is paired with clips from movies and TV shows poking fun at critics including Jake Gyllenhaal looking unbearably pretentious in 2019 thriller Velvet Buzzsaw while New York Magazine Senior Art Critic Jerry Saltz drops in and adds, “They basically hate us.”

Over a decade in five acts (with plenty more critics and artists dropping by throughout), Schumacher follows five art critics through their lives navigating an ever-changing media landscape – but what sets this film apart is how much it makes sure you know these are real people with real feelings, real dreams and remarkable talent.

What hit me hardest about this movie was its intense emotional ride. I laughed as critics feuded online about whether an artist is brilliant or a total hack. I marveled at longtime Los Angeles Times art columnist Carolina Miranda’s ability to find art in every unexpected nook and cranny of her city. I cried when Jen Graves packed up her desk at The Stranger and left art criticism behind.

“This really feels like he gets it,” Graves says as her toddler sobs next to her in the office she’s saying goodbye to.

But if you want one story that epitomizes what keeps happening to this field, it’s Graves’. She was a Pulitzer Prize-nominated writer who was being asked to write faster and shorter an insult that ultimately led to her resignation. Thinking back on it, she says she wonders if winning the Pulitzer would have made any difference. It’s pretty clear it wouldn’t have. She doesn’t write about art anymore.

Schumacher talks to Graves’ replacement, Jas Keimig, an energetic young critic who runs through their duties in the new gig: Writing articles and managing social media and attending events and watching movies for reviews. They say they struggle to find time “to think,” which seems like a pretty crucial part of criticism. They burn out and quit the paper too.

There are fewer full-time art critic positions than ever before, and those that do exist are usually demanding, poorly paid and in New York City. This is a movie that asks audiences to bear witness to this loss: What do we lose when we lose art critics? The film gets sidetracked into some side stories that don’t feel particularly germane at points, but overall it is a profound piece of journalism that takes a long view on an important and often mischaracterized field.

Watch Out of the Picture For Free On Gomovies.