Never Met Picasso

NEVER MET PICASSO owes its name to its main character(brought to life well by Alexis Arquette), a struggling Boston painter. However, its essential plot seems to be the description of a dysfunctional family of sexually-confused artists. How original! Composed of the young gay painter(Arquette), his unbalanced mother (Margot Kidder: art imitating life?) who, among other quirks, discovers her lesbian side in her late 40's), this family also features the gay uncle, the distant father and a menagerie of "in-laws" and friends. These encompass artsy and psychic lesbians, dead lovers, black screaming queen artists, and even an S&M queen who is a history professor by day. If this collage of 90's stereotypes interest you more than an original, coherent plot, then NEVER MET PICASSO is definitely for you.

Having gay characters does not make for a gay film and having interesting characters does not always make for an interesting film.

Andrew Magnus (Alexis Arquette) is the last of a Boston arts family. Alfred, his aging uncle is a painter and Genna, his mother, is an avant-garde theatre performer. All three are gay but that seems to have no real point in the story. Andrew is blocked in his painting and without inspiration (not unlike this film) The characters have their interesting aspects but we don't learn enough about any of them to really care about them. There was a young man David, that both mother and uncle cared for but he died in Viet Nam, we hear very little about him. Instead we see and hear about the gallery crowd and the flamboyant artists that populate the Magnus' lives and all of the openings, exhibits and parties that occupy their time.

I may be a philistine and may be missing the higher meanings here, but I think it's just that there are no higher meanings here. The film stopped short of greatness and got tangled up with flash and form over any real substance.

It played at a art house in Brookline MA for about a week or two. I only saw it because I had seen Georgia Ragsdale (a very funny lesbian comedian) twice in Provincetown and I had a casual acquaintance with Eddie Rutkowski. The plot was kind of vague and there was really no resolution but it DID catch the art scene in Boston perfectly back in 1996. It was full of local characters and was shot on location. For a very low budget feature it was well-done and Arquette and Kidder were excellent in small roles. I don't think this ever got a wide release but it might be available on DVD. If you have an interest in Boston back in the 1990s or are a gay man you might like this one.

An indie art-house masterpiece - lush and charming, wry and clever, like John Waters does Antonioni or something. A little low on plot, but makes up for it in ideas - very tender. The uncle is incredible, in fact the whole cast is great. I love Alexis Arquette, even his crazy appearance on reality TV, and he is very good here (and he is not in drag which is a twist!) It's probably not for everyone but I've been thinking about it for days and I'm sure it will stay with me for a long time. So refreshing to see a gay film like this. It's not just a "gay" film, but really artistic and human! There is no one coming-out. There are no tragic deaths. It it not camp (well, maybe a little...) And, hello, Margot Kidder! I think this film is a little gem. I had never heard of it before so I'm glad I stumbled upon it on Netflix.

I happened to stumble upon this oddly perfect little flick at a film festival in Boston. While it's essentially a gay film, I believe that, as a straight guy, I was as entertained by it as anyone else. It's laugh-out-loud funny at times and quite tender and sad at others. Alexis Arquette's performance is truly outstanding as is the Uncle's. And Kijak's directing is flawless. It's one of those films that you still find yourself talking about months later. Run out and rent it.