BiographyYear2014Duration1h 13mIMDb4.0

Tar

BiographyDramaRomance

A poetic road trip through Pulitzer prize-winning CK Williams' life.

Trailer

Cast

Edna Luise Biesold

Director

Sarah-Violet Bliss

Director

GD

Gabrielle Demeestere

Director

AG

Alexis Gambis

Director

BG

Brooke Goldfinch

Director

SM

Shripriya Mahesh

Director

Pamela Romanowsky

Director

BT

Bruce Thierry Cheung

Director

TT

Tine Thomasen

Director

VU

Virginia Urreiztieta

Director

OZ

Omar Zúñiga

Director

James Franco

C.K. Williams

Mila Kunis

Catherine

Jessica Chastain

Mrs. Williams

Zach Braff

Albert

Henry Hopper

C.K. Williams

Bruce Campbell

Goody

Demetrios Anastasiow

Party Stoner

Giavani Cairo

Dan

JD

Jamie DeKelaita

Party Guest at Entrance

JH

Jann Hight

Old Woman #2

Vince Jolivette

Mr. Williams

GK

Gabriel Kahaian

Friend

Kimber King

Woman in window

EK

Evan Kole

Boy Croquet Player

LK

Lauren Kole

Girl Croquet Player

RL

Robert Langley

Homeless Veteran

TL

Tiffany Lanier

Woman at gas station

Nina Ljeti

Moira

Edna Luise Biesold

Writer

Sarah-Violet Bliss

Writer

GD

Gabrielle Demeestere

Writer

AG

Alexis Gambis

Writer

Shruti Ganguly

Writer

BG

Brooke Goldfinch

Writer

SM

Shripriya Mahesh

Writer

Pamela Romanowsky

Writer

BT

Bruce Thierry Cheung

Writer

TT

Tine Thomasen

Writer

VU

Virginia Urreiztieta

Writer

CW

C.K. Williams

Writer

OZ

Omar Zúñiga

Writer

Comments

10 Comments

H0n€Y 🔥🔥Nov 23, 2025

Bridget KimNov 23, 2025

SeetaAug 20, 2024

The story is not clear and the meaning behind it is not there. the cast is fine since we do not know the plot so we can not judge here right! trying to tell a story based on a poem is a bit hard but may be they could fill in some gaps would make the entire experience much better.

SkalesAug 20, 2024

Often times when I decide on a movie to watch, I only look to see who is in it and look at the poster since I fear all the good bits will be in the trailer. After all, most movies nowadays do feel a bit oversold due to how good their trailers are. But with James Franco, Mila Kunis, Jessica Chastain and Zach Braff, my hopes were high to the point I didn't even read the synopsis. I jumped in expecting a quirky tale and a fun ride. Characters & Story Imagine you are in college and your slightly accomplished "Introduction to Poetry" teacher had the lesson plan based off all his work. And rather than lead the class through a spirited journey filled with discussion and awe, instead he decides to focus on stroking his own ego as he speaks in a monotone voice. That is the general feel as we follow C.K. Williams (James Franco) through his life. Praise Honestly, outside of watching C.K. Williams with wife Catherine (Mila Kunis), or his younger self with Irene (Danika Yarosh), in which we are presented these cute romantic little stories, there isn't much to praise. Criticism To start off, the use of C.K. Williams' poetry for the narrative I think was a bad move since, for me, his poetry is that boring stuff you are force fed throughout your academic career. It is the type of writing people with doctorates in English find deep and amazing, or something which touched them on some deep level, and yet as you sit in class and listen to them read, you simply don't get it. What doesn't help though is that we go back and forth from the older Williams (Franco) to his younger versions and the film's tone very much reminded me of the feeling you would have if you were tipsy or high. Everything feels muddled and lacking of any type of excitement and, while you can recognize something is happening, nothing is said or done to snap you out of this daze. This is despite the sounds of children laughing, Kunis and Franco portraying what looks like a cute relationship, and surely being part of a film of someone who perhaps might actually be interesting. Though you would never guess watching this. Overall: Skip It Somehow, despite barely being over an hour, this movie felt so long. Which truly is a testament to how bad this movie is. And I don't really fault the actors involved, per se, but just looking at the plethora of writers and directors involved on IMDb, you can definitely tell that there may have been too many cooks in the kitchen with this one. Though this film making me sleepier than drinking all night is the main reason this is being labeled "Skip It." For unless you are the type who likes background noise while you sleep, I don't see why you would waste your time on this film.

CH Amir GujjarAug 20, 2024

Well, I cannot say that I have read any poems by the poet this supposed biography makes a record of. I did start watching it with my lady fair and, hence, saw great potential for an evening of respite and romance... after all, surely a poetic movie will 'do the trick'? Sigh... after ten minutes, my impatient partner pulled the video out of the machine. Sigh, so ,hence, I cannot write a 'spoiler' since I do not know if this poet nixed himself from boredom in the end... Darn! Now I will have to research Wikipedia to find out the real story of an apparently perverted but boring and snoring life's, if movies are to be believed. If one cannot make it past the first ten minutes, why even a '3' for this thing? Oh, I might have watched it to see how much truth there is to it. But, sadly, never got anywhere near to understanding the reason behind this movie in the first place. Lesson to movie producers out there? If you are making a movie for arts sake then let the populace know that its purpose is not to entertain... this one seemed intended to drag people away from the story of poetry by immersing us in the poems and not the real life story...That movie about Stephen Hawking did not immerse us into Hawking's every living moment and astounding words. By trying to do this with this poet, the movie failed.

🔱👑HELLR👑🔱Aug 20, 2024

Not on Poe that is and something that might have helped me (maybe others too?) to figure out what it (the movie) was trying to do here. As it is and without any knowledge going into this, I had no clue what to expect. It is clear that everything is kinda connected, but I'm pretty sure the poems themselves make much more sense and are a lot more gripping than the way the movie portray the stories. The acting cast on hand is good, but feel as disconnected as the rest of the movie most of the time. Maybe if you have read the poems it'll be easier and more enjoyable or maybe this will float your boat no matter what. But I reckon a majority will find this "boring" (or annoying, depending on your mood maybe both). As it is, this slow paced drama is just above the water ...

Faith_nketsiAug 20, 2024

I rented this movie based on the actors, all of my favorites. But Janes Franco either makes an outstanding movie, or a total disaster. This was the latter. My brain hurts. The movie made no sense at all, paid very poor homage to a poet. The acting was very bad. I love Mila Kunis, Jessica Chastain, Zach Braff, but I will never understand why they took part in this atrocity. I watched the whole movie in hopes that it would get better, make sense, but to no avail. I wouldn't recommend this movie to anyone.

NikitaAug 20, 2024

It's so disturbing and such an accurate description of the life of a poet. C.K. Williams is my favourite poet and I can see him in this movie. I don't know why it has such a low rating but maybe they don't understand poetry. Maybe, to be able to appreciate this movie, you have to be familiar with C.K. Williams' poems. I am, and I love his poems. I especially like the ending a lot. It is so disturbing that you really understand what makes you write. It makes you write. I know. James Franco was fairly good. This might be my favourite James Franco movie but I don't think I'd watch it again. I don't want to be a poet. I recommend this movie to people who want to write poetry.

Aysha DemAug 20, 2024

First things first: for those unfamiliar with the work of Pulitzer Prize winning poet CK Williams, the following may be helpful – 'CK Williams is especially known as an original stylist; his characteristic line is extraordinarily long, almost prose-like, and emphasizes characterization and dramatic development. His early work focused on overtly political issues such as the Vietnam War and social injustice. In his later work, Williams has shifted from a documentary style toward a more introspective approach, writing descriptive poems that reveal the states of alienation, deception, and occasional enlightenment that exist between public and private lives in modern urban America.' That this film is a project created by James Franco's class is another aspect of Franco's individuality in exploring all aspects of the arts. That it will not find a large audience is not so much the film as the concept that few viewers wish to become involved in a small introspective experimental film, preferring the big epics and apocalyptic ventures and coarse humor movies as escapes form reality. James Franco is a unique actor – quite gifted and wiling to take on difficult biographies (he has portrayed Allen Ginsberg, Hart Crane and others). Give him credit for paying homage to CK Williams. The Color of Time is based on Pulitzer prize-winning poet CK Williams' collection of the same name. The film blends together adaptations of 11 of the poems to create a poetic road trip through CK William's life. The film takes us on a journey through several decades of American life from CK's childhood and adolescence in Detroit in the 1940s and 50s to the early 1980s: CK and his wife Catherine are married with their son Jed. CK prepares for a reading of 'Tar' in New York City, and spends his nights struggling to write new poems, haunted by memories of his past. As CK drives to his reading in New York City, he remembers central moments of his life: we come to experience and understand both his relationship to love and loss, and how he found his calling as a poet through the women in his life. The film takes us back and forth between past and present, punctuated by voice-over from CK Williams' poems, recreating the experience of memory and exploring how the fragments of one's man life can be turned into poetic expression: his loving relationship to his mother, his first sexual experiences as a teenager, his first love and the struggle to preserve a form of innocence and wonder, the illness and loss of a close friend, and finally his life together with Catherine. The cast, though not individually used extensively includes Franco as CK Williams, Mila Kunis, Jessica Chastain, Zach Braff, Henry Hopper, Bruce Campell among many other bit parts. The music by Garth Neustadter and Daniel Wohl, contributes significantly and for a class project the 'directors and writers' deliver a moody quiet exploration of the genius of CK Williams. A bit of understanding on the part of the audience will result in a gently ekphrastic exercise.

Mphatso Princess MacAug 20, 2024

When i read the reviews (on rotten tomatoes also) i thought i didn't need to write my own, but i think that the audience had it all backwards. They kept on writing stuff like »came here because of Mila Kunis and was disappointed«. Don't you see that these actors are the very reason this film fails so badly? To be honest, what could you expect? Mila and James (and even Jessica, damn it) are impersonating the hollow shells they are, so you can't even call this pretentious, it's honest to their characters, it's shallow, it's all for show. And the looks are not deceiving, the aesthetics of the movie are nice, but don't expect people to follow this for 90 minutes if you have no substance, no story, no narrative. Works for a video-clip, doesn't make for good feature length. Poor film class students, just imagine what you could have achieved with such a high profile cast in the 70s. Mind you, they probably wouldn't have let you produce a mindless piece like this, back then. If this film were about me i wouldn't be flattered. Or maybe i didn't get it: Was the author known to bore people to death? I don't know the poems of the writer as of yet, but a quick look on youtube tells me his ted speech is going to be more rewarding than this ordeal of a movie. So it had a positive outcome. It enticed me to research the author. I do hope he's better!

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