Basquiat

Name: Basquiat
Genre: Biography, Drama
Released: August 9, 1996
Duration: 108 min
Rating: 65
Cast: Benicio Del Toro, Jeffrey Wright, Michael Wincott

1996

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 20 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 20 Ratings

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6.7

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6.7	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 20 Ratings

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Basquiat

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Movie Details & Credits

Miramax Films | Release Date: August 9, 1996 | R

Starring: Benicio Del Toro, Jeffrey Wright, Michael Wincott

Summary: Basquiat chronicles the meteoric rise to fame of the gifted and charismatic young New York artist, Jean-Michel Basquiat, as he emerged from the streets of the East Village to become an internationally renowned sensation. (BV Entertainment)

Director: Julian Schnabel

Genre(s): Biography, Drama

Rating: R

Runtime: 108 min

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Critic Reviews

100

Peter Travers

Most movies stress the agony of art (think of Kirk Douglas' Van Gogh in "Lust for Life"). Schnabel's exceptional film honors his friend by showing the act of creation as a natural high. Read full review

Owen Gleiberman

Basquiat is an engrossing spectacle, but by the end, as a zoned-out Basquiat stands regally in a cruising Jeep, we realize that Schnabel has reconfigured his story as a kind of ghostly myth, and that we've never completely seen the man behind it. Read full review

Jonathan Rosenbaum

It's also quite energetic -- 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. Read full review

Emanuel Levy

As writer and director, Schnabel should be commended for avoiding Hollywood's biopic cliches about artists, as Basquiat's meteoric rise to fame and tragic death at the age of 27 would have fit perfectly the timeworn formula. Read full review

TV Guide Magazine Staff(not credited)

Schnabel at least manages to tell a fairly coherent story. The bad news: It's not a very interesting story, and Schnabel doesn't have the chops to make it one by sheer strength of filmmaking prowess. Read full review

Janet Maslin

But the film's central figure remains a cipher, the subject of a colorful scrapbook rather than a revealing portrait. Read full review

David Bonetti

Schnabel can't decide whether he wants to tell a traditional rise-and-fall morality tale or make an art film. His attempt at telling Basquiat's story straightforwardly collapses under its own banality. Read full review

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User Reviews

jhep

Oct 19, 2012

Basically a surprisingly old fashion biopic - late 1930s, 1940s style.....but Jake Hamilton of "Empire" magazine that you have sited among your critics' responses has hit the nail-on-head when he sites DAVID BOWIE's utterly delightful and indeed mesmerizing performance as Andy Warhol....inBasically a surprisingly old fashion biopic - late 1930s, 1940s style.....but Jake Hamilton of "Empire" magazine that you have sited among your critics' responses has hit the nail-on-head when he sites DAVID BOWIE's utterly delightful and indeed mesmerizing performance as Andy Warhol....in every scene he was in I eagerly awaited EVERY WORD that Bowie's Warhol had to say......a truly amazing and fascinating performance by Bowie- a real treat !!...for this reason I am giving the film a 5 instead of a 2 rating… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

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52	#52 Best Movie of 1996
69	#69 Most Shared Movie of 1996