Cutie and the Boxer

2013 documentary

Rating: 15/20

Plot: Eccentric pop artist Ushio Shinohara and fellow artist and wife Noriko try to survive and create in New York City after 40 years of marriage.

I don't know how I'm supposed to feel here. On the one hand, I feel sorry for the titular Cutie who at times seems oppressed and stymied by her domineering and selfish husband. She wants to be an artist, too, and you could argue that her art is at least more likable than the work of her more-famous husband. I mean, the guy punches a canvas with boxing gloves covered in paint. Of course, he does make colorful sculptures (mostly of motorcycles) out of cardboard, and those are kind of fun although there's one scene in here that makes the whole creation look sort of lackadaisical. And then there's the couple's son, an alcoholic who seems to be the product of two selfish parents ill-equipped to raise a child. And as artists, there just doesn't seem to be much of a chance for them to ever have anything more than a modicum of success. On the other hand, there's something about this relationship that is endearing. They've been married for 40 years, so there's something that makes this relationship work. Ushio and Noriko seem to feed off each other and thrive because they're together. One touching scene has Ushio going out of town for a few days, and Noriko's excitement when he comes back home shows us exactly how she feels about the man. And she really lets him have it on camera and refers to him as a "bully" in her artwork, and you can see it in his eyes that he knows he's imperfect and probably borderline awful. But you can also see in his eyes that he knows that she loves him regardless of all that, and there's something beautiful about that, too. I like documentaries about art and artists, and I enjoyed watching these two live and work. But seriously, art created in about 4 1/2 minutes with boxing gloves is kind of stupid.