Paint (2023) review

Soft-spoken naturalist Carl Nargle (Owen Wilson), who has a popular painting show on PBS in Vermont (and a particular obsession with Mount Mansfield), gets new competition from Ambrosia (Ciara Renée) and is eventually canned ... only to "rediscover" himself when his house burns down and he's presumed dead.  It's a basically one-joke movie, which is terrible to begin with - Carl's quiet "kindness" (based on the late painter Bob Ross, puffy perm and all) is a way to mask his passive-aggressive personality, and he's awful to everyone around him including former lover Katherine (Michaela Watkins) and his students at the university he's supposed to "teach" at.  It concludes with him being redeemed - which is not warranted - although the "twist" is at least a tiny bit clever: he goes from happy little trees to graffiti.  Still, wasting Mr. Wilson in a light comedy should be subject to some sort of punishment: if not the Iron Maiden, then perhaps knuckles slapped with a wooden ruler.