“Painters are like boxers: both smear their blood on the canvas.” That’s what artists’ agent Bruno says, as he sets up the premise of this arty drama by arranging a big showdown between his two most prized painters: Jean-Michel Basquiat and Andy Warhol. What follows is as flashy and crowd pleasing as any rumble in the jungle, as these two famous artists bare their knuckles and souls over a collaboration in the artist’s studio.
Paul Bettany’s entertainingly neurotic, affecting performance as Warhol is a joy. It’s a compellingly detailed sketch of an artist whose image can feel almost as blandly iconic as the Marilyn Monroe screenprints he created. Warhol is recovering after being shot in the chest by a fan, hiding his nervousness behind an omnipresent camera and a brittle sense of humour. Jeremy Pope plays Basquiat as his more cerebral, thoughtful foil: he’s got a profound faith in the power of his paintbrush, is unable to understand Warhol’s flippancy, and is endlessly eloquent even though he’s constantly half-stoned. Together, they debate the purpose of art and create tentative artworks together. The authenticity-obsessed Basquiat cajoles Warhol into picking up a paintbrush after decades of screenprinting, while Warhol persuades Basquiat to indulge his fixation with the empty visual trappings of American capitalism.
