72
Metascore
12 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 90The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeThe Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeOne of the most transporting depictions of the Downtown New York scene (in a field crowded with docs, memoirs and fictions — some by artists who weren't alive at the time), Sara Driver's Boom for Real: The Late Teenage Years of Jean-Michel Basquiat more than does justice to its acknowledged subject, partly by refusing to divorce him from his context.
- 90The New York TimesGlenn KennyThe New York TimesGlenn KennyWhile, in many respects, it is conventional in form, alternating archival footage from the late 1970s and early ’80s with newly shot interviews, the movie has a momentum (aided by an exemplary soundtrack of songs from the era) and a rare interrogatory spirit.
- 88The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Nathalie AtkinsonThe Globe and Mail (Toronto)Nathalie AtkinsonWhat’s admirable about the film is how Driver gives the cross-pollinating forces of music, media, fashion and art such concise, firsthand exploration.
- 80VarietyOwen GleibermanVarietyOwen GleibermanSara Driver, the director of “Boom for Real” (who was there at the time, as Jim Jarmusch’s early producer and romantic partner), creates an alluring and detailed portrait of how the downtown scene came together, springing up like weeds between the cracks of a broken New York, its poverty-row aesthetic infused with the energy of punk and the vivacity of hip-hop (before it was called that).
- 80Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleLos Angeles TimesRobert AbeleBasquiat's energetic brilliance is mourned as much as revered in "Boom for Real," which ends with his cannon shot into the money-mad, drug-fueled '80s. What lingers, though, is a heartfelt reminiscence for what's memorable about emergent talent, the spark that precipitates the well-fanned blaze.
- 70Village VoiceCraig D. LindseyVillage VoiceCraig D. LindseyBoom makes the case that the scene Basquiat came from was more fascinating than Basquiat himself. Even though many of the artists, admirers, and friends interviewed for this doc praise him and his gonzo genius, several of them suggest that he strived to be more of a rock star than a punk artist.
- 67The PlaylistChris BarsantiThe PlaylistChris BarsantiFor Driver’s movie, Basquiat is a ghostly presence, popping up in snapshots or scraps of footage.
- 63RogerEbert.comMatt FagerholmRogerEbert.comMatt FagerholmWhen it comes to conjuring a sense of place, Driver’s film succeeds spectacularly, though it comes up short in other areas.
- 50Slant MagazineDerek SmithSlant MagazineDerek SmithThe film seems far more interested in celebrating a short-lived era of artistic invention than interrogating it.
- 50San Francisco ChronicleSan Francisco ChronicleDriver keeps their tales engaging with great music and vintage clips of CBGB, Club 57, the Mudd Club and the crumbling Lower East Side.