Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child
Arthouse Films | Release Date: July 21, 2010 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
74
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 15 Critic Reviews
Positive:
13
Mixed:
2
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
A remarkably rich documentary possessing depth, range, insight and compassion. Read full review
88
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
Davis does the most thorough job of capturing Basquiat, man, artist, and life force. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
The artist's arresting images speak for themselves, even though now only the bystanders are left to tell his story. Read full review
83
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
This is the first full-length movie about his painting and his being that gets anywhere near close to comprehending both. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeFore
A thoroughly engaging film about an inimitable New York painter. Read full review
80
Time OutJoshua Rothkopf
The man himself stares into Davis's lens, both confident and scared; for these moments alone, the movie is key. Read full review
80
The New York TimesStephen Holden
It places Basquiat's art in a cultural context with an enthusiasm and zest that make the many pictures shown come blazingly alive. Read full review
75
New York PostV.A. Musetto
Talking heads include friends, fellow artists, art dealers and former girlfriends. One contributor is Julian Schnabel, the painter and filmmaker who directed the 1996 biopic "Basquiat." Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
I doubt that Jean-Michel Basquiat would have endorsed the subtitle. Indeed, The Radiant Child seems to inflate the very cliché that the rest of this film is keen to refute. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeSebastian Smee
Some of the most honest and tender observations come from Basquiat's girlfriend at the time, Suzanne Mallouk. Read full review
70
Village VoiceMelissa Anderson
Her (Davis) homage--tender, never hagiographic--also contains some biting analysis of the racism, both overt and insidious, that the artist was up against. Read full review
70
Boxoffice MagazineRay Greene
Using clips from home movies, newsreels and public access TV, Davis does a heroic job of bringing the edgy and diffuse mixed-media New York art scene of the '80s back to life. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderFred Camper
In the interview, a charmingly self-effacing Basquiat displays a winning smile; perhaps no one could explain what drove him, or his 1988 death from a heroin overdose at 27, but we do learn of his alienation from his family. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
It doesn't dip much below the surface, but Tamra Davis' biography of her friend Jean-Michel Basquiat, who died in 1988, offers an informative introduction to one of contemporary art's most complex figures. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleKenneth Baker
People who have seen fellow painter Julian Schnabel's "Basquiat" - with its star-making portrayal by Jeffrey Wright - may reasonably trust its truth as a tribute over Davis' ostensibly more factual exercise. Read full review
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