There Goes Somebody's Miracle...

You know, I'm praying for it.

  • Reviews
  • Food
  • Travel
  • Just This
  • About

Explore

  • All Reviews
  • Movies
  • Books
  • @ Third Coast Review
  • Film Work

Connect

Movies · March 6, 2014

In the details (we never quite see)

The other night, I had to jet from yoga to a film screening – one of our docs was kicking off a local festival, and I wanted to be sure someone from the company was on hand at least for the Q&A. I was a bit delayed, but did manage to meet the festival director, say hi to the doc subject who’d been able to attend.

After the chit chat, I was at a crossroads – head home and call it a night, or find a movie near by and stay out a bit later. Obviously, I opted for the latter. I clicked into Moviepass to see what I could see for free nearby, and landed on Tim’s Vermeer, a doc I didn’t know anything about except that it was getting good reviews, had been the subject of some chatter recently.

tims vermeerMy first indication that this wouldn’t exactly be your run-of-the-mill doc was the duo behind the film – Penn & Teller. Yep, the magic/variety show duo.

Quickly, the premise of the 80-minute film unfolds: Penn’s known Tim Jenison for years, and when Jenison decided to dive head-first into a quest to understand how Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer made his life-like masterpieces, Penn decided to tag along.

Jenison’s set-up is actually incredibly intriguing. To be sure, I had no idea there even was discussion around Vermeer’s style, let alone that the discussion was predicated on whether or not the artist used optics – lenses, mirrors, etc. – to create such bright, life-like images on canvases. Turns out, it’s a question at least among some in the art world, though one of the first disservices the documentary does for itself is limit its scope to Jenison and two others, an author and a historian. Never does director Tiller or narrator Penn take the camera outside the bubble Jenison creates to the broader art community, to educate the viewer on decades-long debate on the subject, or the urgent discussion around answering the questions Jenison posits.

Indeed, I can’t even be sure that debate or discussion is happening at all. If it is and the filmmakers chose not to show it, that’s just poor form. If it isn’t happening at all, suddenly the subject of Tim’s Vermeer becomes nothing more than a man with a lot of money who settles on an entirely obscure albeit interesting question no one was really asking in the first place, which makes it hard to care about the answer on many levels.

Jenison made his millions (or more?) in the early days of television technology, and he’s a skilled guy. As we watch him teach himself to make lenses, wood furniture and paint, it’s clear he’s so successful because of his willingness to try anything at all and see what he can bank on. And yet, as he constructs a custom studio to the exact specifications of Vermeer’s own, as he puts hours, days, months, years into determining how Vermeer did what he did, I couldn’t kick the question in the back of my mind: couldn’t all this time and money have been spent in ways that matter? Feeding the poor? Educating the illiterate?

Admittedly, I don’t know Jenison’s philanthropic endeavors – the film doesn’t divulge if all this investment in an experiment is after he’s dedicated similarly large sums of time and treasure to something like bringing clean water to Africa. Maybe that’s the case, and I’d be glad for it.

There’s also something missing in the film’s conclusion (spoilers ahead). As Jenison spends the better part of a year painting a replica of one of Vermeer’s better known masterpieces, the canvas does become a stunning reproduction of the original that hangs in Queen Elizabeth’s personal collection (which, sidenote: Jenison doesn’t get permission to see it, then miraculously does. Without any explanation from his documentarians, I can’t help but think the mogul bought his way into a private audience with the work. The lack of explanation risks the transparency that all good documentaries depend on. If I feel like you’re hiding something from me, you’ve lost me.).

But there’s no attempt at validating Jenison’s creation. Aside from allowing the previously-mentioned sidekicks to ooh and aah at Jenison’s efforts, there’s no third-party examination. No art museum, no restorer, no one to put the artwork under a microscope and compare brushstrokes, compare one against the other. Aren’t brushstrokes the fingerprint of a painter? Jenison’s final product may look very much like Vermeer’s from a distance, but unfortunately that’s as close as viewers are invited to come.

Share this:

  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr

Posted By: Lisa Trifone · In: Movies

NYC List: MUSEUMS AND HISTORICAL SITES
NYC List: ENTERTAINMENT

You’ll Also Love

2021 [in film]
Review: Eric Rohmer’s Tales of the Four Seasons
Review: Some Kind of Heaven

Get on the List

About Photo
Hello! I'm Lisa, and this is—or rather I am—Somebody's Miracle. Explore everything I'm watcing, reading and baking, all my far-flung adventures and ones closer to home. Thanks for reading.

Connect

Get on the List

Subscribe for the latest posts, musings and updates directly in your inbox.

Categories

  • Reviews
  • Food
  • Travel
  • Just This
  • About

Search

From the Archives

June 2025
S M T W T F S
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
2930  
« Jul    

lisabeesa

Two years ago today, I was coming off what - until Two years ago today, I was coming off what - until that point - was the biggest adventure of my life. I bought a home. I turned 40. I spent a month in Paris. I’d hit a new career milestone. Life was every bit what I imagined it could be. 

Then I walked into a first date with a guy I met on the internet and very quickly realized my (our!) best adventure had just begun. 

Two years of getting my goat (and delighting in it), because you love to see me laugh. Two years of not just making dinners but plating them, too, because you know I like a pretty plate. Two years of grand gestures not because you’re big on gestures, but because I am.

I thought I had it all figured out, and I think I would’ve been fine if you’d never walked into my life. But good grief am I glad you did. ❤️
🎄 Holiday Playlist! 🎄 It's my favorite trad 🎄 Holiday Playlist! 🎄

It's my favorite tradition (of so many!) of the season: my annual holiday playlist. Twenty-four songs. Two hours of tunes.

Sabrina Carpenter and The Kinks. My Morning Jacket and Kacey Musgraves. Ben Folds and Bette Midler and Bad Religion. 

You can listen on Spotify at the link in my bio!

Happy, happy holidays to you and yours. Wishing you a joyful season!
I’d watch Pablo Larrain’s version of paint dry I’d watch Pablo Larrain’s version of paint drying, but thankfully his latest biopic of a famous, troubled woman (after JACKIE and SPENCER) is a far more engaging fever dream of passing time and missed opportunities.

MARIA, featuring a performance by Angelina Jolie that vibrates with vulnerability, is not perfect but it is fascinating. 

Now in theaters; on Netflix next month. Full review at the link!
My phone yelled at me this morning that I was out My phone yelled at me this morning that I was out of storage space, so over a couple cups of coffee I went back through this year’s photos and videos to purge what I don’t need on my device. 

Stumbled on this snap Brian took of me over dinner back in…June?…and honestly, I just love it. I love the way he sees me and I love the way I look when I see him. ❤️

Take care of each other. That’s all.
Eight years ago this week, @justin.f.brady and I w Eight years ago this week, @justin.f.brady and I went to see @waitressmusical on Broadway, and after the show we were treated to full band karaoke with die-hard fans. 

At the end of the show tunes lovefest, @sarabareilles—who wrote the show’s music and was hosting the karaoke—took to the mic to perform Brave, and it was more cathartic than I think any of us realized in the moment. 

It was the night before the 2016 election and none of us were (looking back now) as worried as we should have been. I had early voted, the wind seemed to be at @hillaryclinton’s back and we were ready for history to be made. 

I’ve thought about (and talked about) that moment a lot in the years since - it’s a great story! But especially today, as we’re on the eve of another monumental Election Day, I am imploring anyone reading this who may still be unsure or may not yet have a plan to be brave and vote for the person who is NOT a convicted criminal, serial sexual assaulter, con-man and dictator-in-waiting. @kamalaharris is the only way forward.

We can get back to debating policy in four years. For now, please vote for humanity, for democracy, for decency and for sanity. I wanna see you be brave.
Signs of life! 👋 I feel like I’ve been in a Signs of life! 👋 

I feel like I’ve been in a fog the last week or so, and it’s going to last at least through Tuesday…but I’m here, I promise!

Got to catch @musictheaterworks’ LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS (with the lovely @yersha_la_la_la for company!) and it was delightful. Great production with just a hint of that community theater patina, a bit rough around the edges. (Is it just me or is that S in “Florist” totally upside down?!)

Full review coming soon at @thirdcoastreview!
This one gets a spot on the grid! Congrats to Drew This one gets a spot on the grid! Congrats to Drew and Jean on a beautiful wedding day and the start of an exciting new chapter. (But really, thanks for such a great reason to wear my new favorite dress! 😉)
I absolutely love this time of year. 🍂🍁 I absolutely love this time of year. 🍂🍁
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • Site Disclosure

Copyright © 2025 There Goes Somebody's Miracle... · Theme by 17th Avenue

 

Loading Comments...