The first time I saw Basquiat, I also thought it was amateurish (as did Ashley & Zack), and I even felt kind of embarrassed for Schnabel--if you're going to line up all these stars and the amazing Jeffrey Wright, at least do them justice! However, I've liked it better in subsequent viewings, and some of the stilted qualities that bothered me at first came to seem more nuanced or at least charming.
One thing we didn't go into, but which struck me with each viewing--that's the allusions to Christianity that in the end construct Basquiat as Jesus. The weeping mother, the portrayal of Basquiat as innocent child, the crown (not thorns, but a crown), the shepherds looking up at the sky at the end, the final ride to doom (w/ Benny in the car)--all of these elements seem to me to point toward an understanding of the artist as martyr dying for the sins of a corrupt humankind.
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