Context: Conrad Greene is talking on the phone about the painting whereabouts.
Oh, it's you! Where's my painting? I want my painting. In the mail?
Well, that's original!
Sentence taken from "Entrapment (1999)" movie.
Learn English – What does it meaning of “that’s original” in this sentence
meaning-in-contextsarcasm
Related Solutions
It doesn't mean it's an important thing; in fact it's sort of the opposite. What Ronan means is that he wished they learned more than "a bit", but he's glad they're at least learning something. He might have said instead "Well, that's better than nothing."
This is generally used when you wish something more/better than what is happening were possible, but are accepting what you can get. For example:
Jim: "Did you get everything we needed for the party? Sally really wanted those special crackers she likes."
Mary: "They didn't have those, but I did find paper plates with unicorns on them!"
Jim: "Well, that's something. Sally does like unicorns."
Wherein Jim really wishes Mary had gotten the crackers, but is pleased that at least something Sally likes will be present.
This is certainly not the normal usage of the expression an oil painting which, as you say, is normally only used in the negative- "she's no oil painting"- about somebody who is not particularly attractive.
Note that the idiom must be used in the negative. If you say it in the positive- "she's an oil painting"- it does not match the pattern for that idiom: that's why the producer is able to use it in the positive sense with a very different meaning.
What I think the producer means is that the people are sitting or standing perfectly still, like the people in this oil painting:
Best Answer
The literal meaning of the phrase "That's original" would mean "That's unusual" / "That's unexpected".
Here, though, it's being used sarcastically, as this phrase very commonly is. The sarcasm is because "It's in the mail" is seen as a stereotypical excuse when someone hasn't mailed or shipped something as promised.
So the sarcastic response means basically "That's the excuse I expected you to give me".