Randy’s Canvas is a 2018 comedy/drama and coming-of-age love story about an aspiring artist with autism.
Randy (Adam Carbone) is a talented artist who understands the passion and purpose it takes to put paint to canvas, working as a custodian at a small gallery where he talks of the greats with the security guard (John Petrella). Leaving his portfolio behind one day, the guard decides to hang one of Randy’s works on the wall, causing both he and Randy to get fired, though not before curator Maurizio D’Oro (Massi Furlan) notices and hires him for his own gallery, believing the young man has a gift. Soon after, he gets to study under renowned art professor, Hausdorff (Richard Riehle) and then falls in love with a beautiful girl named Sienna (Marycarmen Lopez), who’s already involved with her boyfriend, leaving Randy’s classmate Cassie (Scout Taylor-Compton) to help him sort out his feelings.
The ‘twist’ in all this is that Randy is a high-functioning autistic, though that’s never made the focus of the film, the emotional evolution of Randy the grunt of the story, his condition something he has not what he is. Living with his older brother Henry (Michael Emery), he struggles with his talent and his lack of patience in those who work to train him, his obsession with Sienna redefining his art … and his personality.
While it begins as if it might be a goofy comedy with a very cartoonish Furlan chewing up the early scenes with absurdity, it thankfully settles into a much more meaningful story with Furlan and the cast eventually taking it more seriously and actually giving the story some weight. The relationship between Randy and Henry is played best, the brothers obviously very close and Henry ‘handling’ Randy with compassion and respect, his own sacrifices growing more apparent the further we travel with them.
You might think you know where some of this is going, with Sienna setup to be the cold heartbreaker, and I won’t dare spoil where it all ends, but the film manages to juggle the realities of what love can be like with terrific authenticity without making autism feel like it’s the crutch it must lean on. Randy has spent his whole life using art to express himself, but as he’s grown and finds himself taken by romance, it changes everything. It’s something we all go through, and while much of what we see is familiar, it’s mostly because that’s entirely the point. Lopez is very effective in her limited appearance, with Carbone also convincing throughout, Randy facing myriad new emotions, from mistrust and sadness to outright rage.
While the film’s budget might limit some of it greater potential, and a few musical choices sort of work too hard to have some impact, the story’s the thing and as a shot of inspiration, finds the right colors. Writer/director Sean Michael Beyer delivers a gentle, family film experience that makes for a pleasant and entertaining watch. Recommended.