Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: THE PANTONE GUY [Waco Independent Film Festival 2025 - Waco, Texas]

The idea of path of always an interesting one but it is also told many times by the people that lived it especially in documentaries. Otherwise it becomes a completely subjective pursuit in one form or another. With "The Pantone Guy" there in a specific point of who is telling the story. Here, Larry Herbert tells his own story (and he is probably financing the documentary as a beginning point says) so he gets approval of course. This is obviously a paid advertisement in a way but does make a lot of sense since most people have heard about Pantone and maybe didn't quite know how it came about. And he does.

The great thing is that money was spent on animation and certain recreations in a way that very much illustrates exactly what he did in a very clear way so it can be understood how groundbreaking it was. Certain aspects of personal life is glossed over but that of course could just be him exercising his ability to control the narrative. The Korean War had an immense impact on him it seems which changed certain things but he says "Let's move on" and it is not addressed again. And yet the aspect of these wars is what of course shapes people more than anything. Conflict usually promotes change. Herbert still came back and accomplished what he did moving up the ladder in terms of eventually creating the Pantone color books.

A specific detail in the different shapes of his eyes is of particular interest because it is what allowed him to do what he did...almost as if it was a gift from a higher power. Different aspects like an angel investor and her reasoning for helping him as well as the accident that befell his daughter were obviously important elements of his life. While his second wife figures a little more prominently, we never hear from his first wife (even just to know what happened to her). Perhaps it is a sour point but she is as much part of that story as he was. The simple psychological structure with his first wife’s mother is also undeniable. We also never hear what his parents thought about his success even though Larry's early years were undeniably shaped by the subjugation his father suffered in Brooklyn in the 40s.

These responses are obviously just as important as anything else. The eventual successes only can be balanced by the lows even though everything as Herbert approaches 95 is about what legacy he is leaving the world. After selling the company (which his children from his first wife helped him bring up to market value), it is about his place in the culture. A clip from "The Devil Wears Prada" illustrates that very nicely. "The Pantone Guy" is definitely a certain kind of documentary made for itself as much as the person who brought it into being. Still it is a fascinating progression of both sociology and the American Dream at play. B+

By Tim Wassberg