Hulu Movies 2024: Is 'Paint' Worth Streaming?

IFC Studios

On a particularly hot Saturday night requiring the cool breeze of comedy, I went to Hulu’s movies. There it was as of July 2024 – “Paint.” Owen Wilson is a personal favorite as comic actors go, a familiar presence when a sense of “chill” is much needed.

For those who missed its release in 2023 and are catching it in 2024 on Hulu, “Paint” is a thinly disguised sendup of pop culture icon Bob Ross. There are a lot of public figures who deserve a good ribbing, or as the current term goes, a roasting.

Bob Ross is not one of those people.

Let’s face it. If your reputation comes out of a tell-all documentary rather unscathed, odds are you were a pretty decent guy. “Paint” hides its Bob Ross persona behind the “fictional” Carl Nargle (Owen Wilson). 

It is a portrait expertly conveyed by the perfectly cast Owen Wilson, whose gentle demeanor is a natural fit for the role.

It is a shame that instead of leveraging Owen Wilson for a loving tribute to Bob Ross, it is for a spoof hidden behind not-so-happy trees. Wilson’s common on-screen persona as an affable yet unwittingly myopic figure is heavily leaned into in “Paint.”

Brit McAdams’ script is chock full of marvelously crafted double entendres that ultimately “clear the air” regarding Carl Nargle’s proposed promiscuity. In a departure, it is writer/director Brit McAdams’ second half that gives “Paint” its second wind to dry as an above-average comedy (reservations aside).

The supporting cast is terrific, funny, and likable in “Paint,” with Michaela Watkins and Ciara Renée stealing more than their fair share of scenes. And as Bob Ross would likely have it, this tale has no real villains. The soundtrack is a splendid goldmine of 70s soft rock. One thing lost in translation is the present-day setting amid its strong 70s tone.

In fairness, this is not the most callous of spoofs. It is one of the most unnecessary. All Bob Ross did and does is make people happy. He teaches them to find a light inside themselves, an artist they never knew existed. There is no way to “Paint” a different picture. Why try?

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“Paint” is currently drying on Hulu.