High Art

Released 1998
Stars Radha Mitchell, Ally Sheedy, Patricia Clarkson, Bill Sage, Tammy Grimes, Gabriel Mann
Directed by Lisa Cholodenko

Off-putting at first, but a clear-eyed character study of a naïve young woman whose stock rises at a pretentious art magazine because of her budding relationship with a once brilliant photographer who had a breakdown years ago. The question is how deeply Mitchell is willing to immerse herself in Sheedy's hedonistic, heroin-infused, lesbian lifestyle. Sheedy is solid and understated; Clarkson is a hoot in a wonderfully showy performance as her companion, an eccentric, egomaniacal German actress.

Summary by Leonard Maltin