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Basquiat

Basquiat (1996)

tomatometer

83

Average Rating: 7.7/10
Critic Reviews: 6
Fresh: 5 | Rotten: 1

No consensus yet.

audience

75

liked it
Average Rating: 3.7/5
User Ratings: 11,119

My Rating

Movie Info

Andy Warhol was a phenomenon who warrants a lot of explaining: a completely colorless mega-star celebrity, and a kind of LaBrea Tarpit for a vivid and talented collection of oddballs in the New York scene. He fostered their continued degeneration into weird lifestyles and heavy drug use; and at the same time acted as their mentor, agent, and sponsor. One artist who came to be part of Warhol's "scene" was Jean Michel Basquiat, an antisocial street-bum who went from writing graffiti on alley walls

R,

Drama

Sep 3, 2002

Miramax

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Cast

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All Critics (46) | Top Critics (15) | Fresh (19) | Rotten (8) | DVD (2)

There isn't a boring shot anywhere, and writer-director Schnabel is clearly enjoying himself as he plays with expressionist sound, neo-Eisensteinian edits, and all sorts of other filmic ideas.

March 31, 2010 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader
Chicago Reader
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Modest effort to illuminate the turbulent life of the New York artist.

May 5, 2011 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com
EmanuelLevy.Com

Schnabel made his film about Basquiat, which carries its own validation. He's also made something of a work of art in its own right.

September 30, 2009 Full Review Source: Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

The character on the screen (played by Jeffrey Wright)... is nothing more than a surface.

December 14, 2007 Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid
Combustible Celluloid

Wright is brilliant.

September 16, 2004
Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies

A stylish and interesting look at a moment in New York City's art world where everyone stopped to look at one person, who never seemd to quite fit.

January 29, 2003
KFOR Channel 4 News

Pretentious and dull.

January 17, 2003 | Comment (1)
San Francisco Examiner

By the end of Basquiat, there are even fewer answers than when we started.

September 5, 2002 Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com
Filmcritic.com

Audience Reviews for Basquiat

Modern artist Jean-Michel Basquiat rises to fame with the help of Andy Warhol.
This film bolsters its indie kudos by including cameos from about every actor on the indie scene at the time, including Christopher Walken, Tatum O'Neal, Courtney Love, and Parker Posey. However, though the names in the cast are as good as they get, the film is not. There are so many unanswered questions, like what is it that makes Basquiat's art unique. We see many people praising his work, but the work doesn't speak for itself, like Jackson Pollock for example, and there aren't any moments that allow us to see what cultural or artistic vein Basquiat has tapped into. Thus, his insouciance toward the artistic process reminds me of Thierry Guetta from Exit through the Gift Shop, who emerges from that film looking like a first-class douche. Also, what could a beautiful, seemingly intelligent woman like Gina see in Basquiat? Their courtship and the end of their relationships are glossed over, and it seems like the brilliant Claire Forlani is under-used simply to fill the role of the supportive girlfriend that all films like this are required to have.
David Bowie's performance as Andy Warhol is a tired caricature; I longed to see the musician tapped out by Guy Pearce -- let a real actor take the part.
Overall, I liked the beginning, the first ten minutes or so, but the rest of the film leaves me knowing nothing new about Basquiat or why I should care.
Post-Script: the design of the Diet Pepsi can in the film didn't come out until after the film's events took place.
July 11, 2012
hunterjt13
Jim Hunter

Super Reviewer

To most people Basquiat was a man who painted and shit. To me, he was just some guy who went to college for a few weeks and learned that its fun to fuck up his current girlfriend's life by painting his important art on their not important purses, dresses, and even sometimes on a canvas like other more typical artists tend to paint on. in conclusion, may basquait be remembered as the tolerable artist he was, as a man who was in a band with Vincent Gallo for six days, and a man with no respect for the countless banks, restaurants, and record stores that he loved to spraypaint his trademark "Fuck off, corporations!" message on as he "shot himself up" into fame's dirty veins.
December 6, 2009
LoughnerWasLucid

Super Reviewer

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