Basquiat
Director: Julian Schnabel
Year Released: 1996
Rating: 3.0
I have to give this '96 release by Schnabel a lot of credit for introducing me, when I was still in high school, to the work of late American painter Jean-Michel Basquiat and his intense, colorful, sometimes child-like artwork. Schnabel, who knew the gifted Basquiat (he's played here by Gary Oldman as "Albert Milo"), portrays him as genuinely as possible, careful not to gloss over the very human flaws (like the way he treated his girlfriend, or the way he would ditch dealers for other dealers, or the way he abused drugs). What makes this a much-better-than-average biopic is the charisma of Jeffrey Wright - if you've seen documentary footage of the actual Basquiat, it's an extraordinary rendition, which is what you'd expect from one of the best actors in the world.
