The film was a long-term personal project for Harris based on his reading of the 1989 biography Jackson Pollock: An American Saga, written by Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith.

In the 1940s, abstract expressionist painter Jackson Pollock exhibits paintings in occasional group art shows.

One day, Pollock's old friend Reuben Kadish visits him, bringing along Howard Putzel, who works for wealthy art collector Peggy Guggenheim.

During a get-together at Peggy's, Pollock dismisses art critic Clement Greenberg's comments and refuses to change his painting style to be more marketable.

Pollock's paintings are not selling but Clement assures him it will change after a Life magazine article about him is published and his upcoming exhibit.

In medias res to the events of the film, Pollock autographs a copy of the Life magazine to a fan at an art exhibit in 1950.

Five years after the exhibit, Clement tells Pollock that the Partisan Review is favoring artist Clyfford Still, saying that his original technique could be the next direction of modern art.

The film was adapted by Barbara Turner and Susan Emshwiller from the book Jackson Pollock: An American Saga by Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith.

The website's consensus reads: "Though Pollock does not really allow audiences a glimpse of the painter as a person, it does powerfully depict the creative process.

"[5] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 77 out of 100, based on 31 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.