Basquiat  (1996)

If you admire creatives, and sympathize with their struggles to find their way, you'll enjoy this. This world was never meant for one As beautiful as you. Particulary appealing if you're interested in, learning to appreciate as I am, the expression of modern artists. But mostly a well crafted and acted look at the struggles of an artist. I enjoyed the looks at how he worked, even if made up, it gave a glimpse in how the visual of what a modern artist sees might come into being.
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Art can be seen differently by each eye that glances upon it. Some will see it as innovative creative pieces of the mind, while others will simply see squiggles and markings on any plain surface. That is how I felt with Basquiat. Throughout the entire story of his humble beginnings as a graffiti artist living on the streets until finally reaching the pinnacle of his existence (thanks to his friend Andy Warhol). Being a fan of Warhol’s work, I was eager to fully immerse myself in this film and see yet another soul touched by the aura of this infamous artist. Sadly, this eagerness flopped when I was ravished with poor editing and horrendous direction. Thankfully there was the brilliant Jeffery Wright to make up for the errors caused by director Julian Schnabel. Wright, courageous enough to play Basquiat, stands as the center of this film while everyone else just seems to falter around him. Overall, this was a decent film.
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A balanced expose' of the NY art scene in the 80's, the time and place that Mr. Schnabel himself found fame alongside Jean-Michel. My only disappointment was in Schnabel's lack of focus on what might have been more of emphasis of the film-Basquiats art. Few are the long, doting, shots of the paintings, the slow pan of the expanse of the huge canvas'. Best scene is where, true or not, Jean-Michel acts more Christ-like than most self-professed Christians, not only "turning the other cheek" but "not letting the left hand know what the right hand is doing-" while at an expensive, upscale restaurant, Jean-Michel is stared at, snickered at and generally made a mockery of by a table full of rich, snobby white folks. Jean-Michel tells the waiter to pay the tab for the entire table-and requesting that it be kept secret. Was this an exercise of ego, or the act of a Saint? This review chooses to think the best.
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i rented this flick because i wanted to check out rockets redglare, del toro, hopper, oldman and bowie in what i thought was going to be a cool movie about basquiat - i generally agree with a "two thumbs up" rating. i got rockets, bowie, del toro etc and was impressed with the supporting players - that's it. the rest was dreary (not in a good way), overacted, underplayed schlock. schnabel ruined what is a compelling story (or so i thought) and made it into another anti-drug after school movie of the week waste of time . . . . .
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