Movie Review: Exit Through The Gift Shop

Despite the lame news report about Banksy in San Francisco, I thought I should give his film, Exit Through The Gift Shop a go, since the guy (or guys) has never let me down.  I can say it was a very wise decision.

Not content with producing a typical documentary of shaky-cam shots and Q&A sessions, Banksy creates something that's more like his street art than a history lesson...with shaky-cam shots and Q&A sessions.  What is initially presented as an exposé on some of the most notorious famous street artists of the decade, it becomes a genius prank that overshadows anything that Sacha Baron Cohen could muster.  Everyone -- people in the film, watching the film, paying for the film; everyone -- becomes a victim, but, like with most street art, nobody gets hurt.

No, this movie is about street art and is street art simultaneously.  It takes your expectations (or sets you up with some), shakes it up in a can, then sprays it in your face.  Not in a malicious way, mind you, but in a provocative, humorous way that makes you see the world a little differently.

In other words, it's very Banksy.