Bob Ross: Happy Accidents, Betrayal & Greed

Bob Ross: Happy Accidents, Betrayal And Greed - 9/10. Bob Ross. The man, the myth, the legend. This documentary serves as a testament to his legendary status as the soft spoken painter who inspired millions worldwide. Though a touching and honest look back at his life, the film turns its gears to reveal the shocking turn of events near the end of his life and post demise. A sometimes eye opening and sincere documentary, this one speaks to not only die hard fans, but also people who genuinely want to know more about him. As a person with a basic knowledge of what Ross did, its actually amazing to know how much of an impact he had on people, including his son (who is the main subject of focus in the interview portions) and his fellow colleagues and fans. The darker side of the documentary is a pretty shocking turn for anyone with no knowledge of what happened to him near his sad death. The way greed and the lust for wealth is portrayed really shows how the message of loving what you do is completely lost. Its sad that Ross can't see how much of an influence he has on people till this day, and its without question that he changed the world of painting forever. Though this doc is full of the love and positivity that Ross had shone through his work, it is difficult to watch the sadder parts of this documentary. If the doc focused more on his impact on the world, this would be a perfect documentary. Nevertheless, this is one of the better docs from the last few years!

You go into the movie wondering if the real life Bob Ross is even close to the TV Bob Ross. You leave the movie thinking Bob Ross is even better than when you went into the movie. He is a true American legend.

Bob Ross was indeed a unique, one-of-a-kind individual. And when this documentary concentrates on his life, his paintings and the unusual spell he cast not only nationwide but worldwide, it is rapturous, 5-star material. The best parts of this movie concentrate on his early life, his rise to stardom and the age-old question whether or not the 'fro was natural. This part of the documentary is irresistible. Sadly, when it starts to concentrate on the titular betrayal and greed, the filmmaking isn't near as strong. I am not going to say much more, because I was totally unaware of the behind the scenes details of what happened, and I certainly don't want to spoil anything for any potential viewers. Let me just say this - the filmmakers make it emphatically clear that several important people in Ross' life opted not to be part of this documentary for fear of being sued. The alleged "villains" of this piece also chose not to participate. Right or wrong, this makes the overall documentary feel very slanted. It's kinda the same problem I had with ALLEN V. FARROW - we're basically only hearing one side of the story. This isn't necessarily the fault of the filmmakers - they obviously do what they can with what they're provided. But I still recommend this to those like me who grew up in the Bob Ross era. There are segments of this film that are absolutely magical - just like Ross himself, God rest his soul.

I would have preferred a straight documentary on Ross' life and positive influence on society but instead this felt like a sensationalized story which at the root offered the banal examples of greed and manipulation seen one hundred times before. While what happened to Ross and his family is horrible there just wasn't enough meat to make the "one business partner cheats the other to get more for themselves" storyline prove interesting. 5.5/10

An interesting documentary.

Interesting documentary that shows once again how even the best of intentions are overshadowed by greed.

during the documentary i formed questions that were answered before the end. only briefly covered, but answered for me. the (then) kid should have been closer to his dad some years before he passed. and he now looks, sounds, and paints like his dad. do that, kid, and you'll be okay.

Interesting story of Bob Ross's business life. Nothing is as pure as it seems.

Pretty good documentary. I'd heard of Bob Ross, but all I knew was he was a painter. I never knew much about him. That Kowalski couple were really a couple of greedy bastards!

Wow, very interesting to know the true story.