‘The Painter’ is an action thriller that follows Peter (Charlie Weber), an ex-CIA operative with a complicated past with the agency. Following a horrific accident Peter leaves his job and partner to live off the grid. Years later, his past comes back to haunt him with unexpected surprises.
Kicking off in the middle of an assignment, Peter carries out his task, in the process crossing paths with his pregnant partner Elena (Rryla McIntosh), also a CIA agent, who is gravely injured during a shoot-out, causing the two to lose their child. Forcing him to withdraw, Peter relocates to a small mountain town where he lives out his days painting.
Approached by a young woman 17 years later, Sophia (Madison Bailey) claims to be his daughter. Refusing to believe that, Peter reaches out to his adoptive father Byrne (Jon Voight) retired head of the CIA who had taken him in after a violent operation gone wrong resulted in the death if his parents and had left him with super-sensitive hearing. Raising him as a special agent, Byrne had helped Peter hone his ability to become an exceptional agent.
Thwarting a wet team coming for him, Peter and Sophia go in search of answers and learn that Elena had perished as she uncovered a secret program, the ‘Internship’ where young children are kidnapped, their senses altered to become agents with skills like Peter’s. Unfolding into a showdown between Peter and the n head of the CIA chapter Piasecki (Marie Avgeropoulos), it is revealed that she had been a graduate of the ‘Internship’.
Further revelations lead to Peter learning that Byrne had developed the program and had killed Elena as she had uncovered the truth. Further still, Sophia is revealed to have been stolen away from Peter and Elena as a newborn to be put into the program by Byrne. The final showdown sees Peter confronting Piasecki, shooting her and leaving her to die, Sophia killing Byrne and the two parting ways, acknowledging that they will inevitably meet again and face off.
Devoid of any originality, ‘The Painter’ has the feel of an imitation of an action movie. Almost like a product of randomly generated action film cliches, the film has everything, - a jaded ex-super soldier agent, tragic backstory, dead spouse and a load of people looking to play him. What serves as the climax of the film resembles a melodramatic pastiche of revelations, - Peter fins out he has been double crossed by his father, his daughter and the new head of the CIA.
Affording little by way of surprises, the narrative of the film feels drawn out as we see Peter following a trail of clues that bring about little to no suspense or surprise. Most damningly perhaps, the film often delivers exposition through flashbacks or video recordings of someone, stopping the action dead in its tracks and slowing down what already seems like a languid effort.
Not to be entirely disparaged, the one noteworthy element of the feature comes by way of a character who seems to understand the tone the film should have taken to be memorable. As he highlights the ridiculousness of the story as it develops Max Montesi plays Ghost, another graduate of the ‘Internship’. Vying to meet the titular painter, he moves through the story pointing out plot inconsistencies and spouts out self-referential comments as he murders his way to the top.
Wholly unoriginal, ‘The Painter’ somehow encompasses as many tropes as it can, apparently without trying to squeeze out any new or interesting twists or turns for the plot or the characters involved. Not even fun for the action sequences, the film is best left on queue in a library that is visited rarely if ever.
Score: 1/4
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