Picturehouse

NEW YORK -- It's appropriate that Don Hewitt is the executive producer of this documentary, because "Who the #$&% is Jackson Pollock?" resembles nothing so much as an extended segment on "60 Minutes." But that doesn't detract from the fascinating nature of the story, about Teri Horton, a 73-year-old retired long-haul truck driver who bought a painting in a California thrift shop for $5 that may or may not be a lost Jackson Pollock.

The title question was delivered in more graphic form by the feisty Horton, who had no clue that the bizarre canvas she purchased as a gag gift for a friend could conceivably be worth millions. Her lengthy and continuing battle with the art world over the painting's authenticity is the subject of this film written and directed by Harry Moses, which at times plays like a Capra-esque comedy about the little guy vs. the establishment.

Said establishment is entertainingly personified here by former Metropolitan Museum director Thomas Hoving, who dismisses both Horton and the painting with a snooty officiousness that provides the film a wonderfully entertaining villain.

Other colorful figures on display include: Peter Paul Biro, a "forensics art authenticator" who, through the use of CSI-like techniques, discovers matching fingerprints on the found painting and a can of paint from Pollock's East Hampton studio; Tod Volpe, an art dealer who once spent time in jail for fraud, who is enlisted by Horton to sell the painting; and friends and colleagues of Pollock's who offer varying opinions as to the authenticity of the canvas.

Prosaic in its storytelling and feeling overlong even with its brief 74-minute running time, the film isn't impressive on any stylistic level. But its fascinatingly ambiguous tale and bizarre cast of characters make it one of the more entertaining documentaries in recent memory.