Artist-turned-director Julian Schnabel's re-creation of the New York art scene of the early 1980's is captured with the authenticity of a photograph from the time come to life. If anybody should be familiar with the vibrant energy and atmosphere of this era, it would be Schnabel, as he brushed shoulders with the likes of Andy Warhol and the topic of his debut feature, Jean-Michel Basquiat, as a key contributor to the American 'Neo-Expressionism' movement himself. What the film fails to do however, is capture the driving force behind Basquiat's art and the demons that drove him to heroin, which is odd given that Schnabel - here thinly disguised as a character played by Gary Oldman - was close friends with Basquiat.

Born into a middle-class family in New York to parents of Haitian and Puerto Rican descent, we first meet a 20 year-old Basquiat, played by Jeffrey Wright, living in a cardboard box. Already a cult figure in the city thanks to his spray-painted poetry under the guise of 'SAMO', a chance encounter with Andy Warhol (David Bowie) and art dealer Bruno Bischofberger (Dennis Hopper) propels him to the front-and-centre of the art scene. Basquiat is charming and charismatic, but also detached and inwardly focused. While this may compliment his art, he remains a mystery to his girlfriend Gina (Claire Forlani) and becomes clinically depressed when an article dubs him Warhol's 'mascot'. Wright gets all the mannerisms and facial expressions spot on, but he also bring a deep soulfulness to what is a terrific, career-making performance.

Peppered with a massive supporting cast that also includes Benicio Del Toro, Michael Wincott, Parker Posey, Willem Dafoe, Christopher Walken, Tatum O'Neal and Courtney Love, Basquiat seems frequently distracted and never really goes deep enough to unravel the thought processes of the enigmatic artist. There are moments of undeniable beauty - Basquiat dreams of moving to Hawaii and imagines the New York skyline as a surfer catching a wave - and there is a building air of tragedy as he begins his inevitable decline into isolation and drug addiction, but the film follows the familiar biopic formula to a tee. See it for the wonderful sense of time and place, and a truly astonishing performance from Wright.

I'm a sucker for movies set in New York City, which is one reason I decided to see this, that and the supporting cast. I don't know much about Basquiat, his life or work, so I don't know how accurate the movie is, nor do I know much about art, but this film drew me in. I know the film was made by a friend and compatriot of Basquiat, Julian Schnabel, and if there's a weakness, it's that sometimes we feel this is an inside job. Nevertheless, we do go inside the art world, get to know about graffiti, and we get to understand what makes Basquiat tick. I also thought Jeffrey Wright was good in the title role. The supporting cast were all first-rate as well.

It's 1979 New York. Jean Michel Basquiat (Jeffrey Wright) is an unconventional artist who lives in the park. He likes waitress Gina Cardinale (Claire Forlani). He crashes with his friend Benny Dalmau (Benicio Del Toro). He assists an electrician (Willem Dafoe) at a gallery run by Albert Milo (Gary Oldman) and Mary Boone (Parker Posey). He sees Bruno Bischofberger (Dennis Hopper) and Andy Warhol (David Bowie) having lunch and sells some of his art to Warhol. Rene Ricard (Michael Wincott) takes an interesting in his art and starts showing him around. Annina Nosei (Elina Löwensohn) gives him the space to start painting. He goes with Big Pink (Courtney Love) who drives away Gina. He is interviewed by a guy (Christopher Walken).

The way Jeffrey Wright portrays Basquiat is kind of annoying. He seems to have Asperger at times while at other times, he's simply an a-hole. He's definitely a hallucinating druggie. I'm not sure how accurate the character is but it's not a flattering portrayal. Although he's not an overtly bad guy, I simply don't care about him. It is however a very fascinating view of his meteoric rise in the art world. It's a great slice of New York life. It's odd to see these many great actors in cameos. It may be better to have lesser known actors in these lesser roles. It becomes more of a distraction especially when those actors don't come back. For me, the most interesting part is when Walken's character asks questions to Basquiat that makes him squirm. One more thing, I don't like the way that some of the edits fade out to black like it's fading out to a TV commercial break. That's also a bit distracting.