Never Met Picasso is a 1996 American comedy-drama film written, produced and directed by Stephen Kijak. It stars Alexis Arquette as Andrew Magnus, a gay artist living with his actress mother, Genna (Margot Kidder), in Boston's South End while struggling with his creative and personal life.
Plot Andrew Magnus, a 30-year-old gay artist living in Boston's South End with his actress mother Genna, is struggling with both his creative work and his personal life. His closest role model is his uncle Alfred, an older gay painter. Andrew's life is disrupted when Alfred dies and when he meets Jerry, a confident new romantic interest.
Andrew's friend Lucy, also an artist, becomes attracted to Genna while navigating her own relationship problems. As Andrew deals with Alfred's death, his stalled artistic ambitions and his developing relationship with Jerry, the film follows the intertwined personal lives of the artists and performers around him.
Cast The principal cast includes: Alexis Arquette as Andrew Magnus Margot Kidder as Genna Magnus Georgia Ragsdale as Lucy Don McKellar as Jerry Keith David as Larry Alvin Epstein as Uncle Alfred
Production Never Met Picasso originated as a screenplay Stephen Kijak wrote for the Lifetime cable network. According to the Daily Bruin, the network returned the script after judging it "too cinematic for television", and Kijak subsequently developed it as a feature film.
Kijak wrote and directed the film and produced it with Patrick Cunningham. Filming took place in Boston over 23 days in 1995. The production was made by Mighty Reel Productions in association with DLR Entertainment, with David Tames serving as cinematographer, Angelica Brisk as editor and Kristin Hersh composing the score.
Release Never Met Picasso screened at the Seattle International Film Festival in 1997. Turbulent Arts handled distribution, and the film opened theatrically in Los Angeles on November 28, 1997, at the Music Hall in Beverly Hills.
Reception Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times described Never Met Picasso as a "wry comedy" with a strong personal quality. He praised Alexis Arquette and Margot Kidder's performances and Stephen Kijak's handling of the ensemble cast, but felt that the film needed a sharper satirical edge and that some of its themes became obscured by its focus on the characters' social milieu.
Michelle Nguyen of the Daily Bruin found the film neither extraordinary nor especially compelling, but praised its narrative structure and described it as consistently entertaining. She gave the film a grade of B, while criticizing what she regarded as its overly self-conscious portrayal of its artistic characters and their non-mainstream lives.
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