Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck 2015

Sara Stewart, New York Post: As the credits roll, it's hard not to just root for the sensitive, progressive, fiercely creative Cobain and wish that he'd lived long enough to find a little peace of mind. Read more

Dennis Harvey, Variety: A fascinating mix of archival and new materials creates a virtual autobiography for legendary grunge trio Nirvana's late leader. Read more

A.A. Dowd, AV Club: Montage understands Cobain as an icon, but also as the mixed-up kid who got too famous too fast, and it seems content revealing, rather than reconciling, his contradictions. Read more

Chris Nashawaty, Entertainment Weekly: Some Nirvana fans, who like their icons unblemished, may choose to look away. But it proves that Morgen isn't interested in hagiography. He wants to show us the real Kurt Cobain, warts and all. Read more

August Brown, Los Angeles Times: An often brilliant, sometimes overheated but always humane documentary, one in which Nirvana's music and fame is just the scaffolding to Cobain's inner life. Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: Montage of Heck celebrates Cobain's formidable talent and accomplishments, makes you wonder how much better he might have become if he had lived longer, and illuminates the demons that sometimes stalk the stars who shine brightest. Read more

Naomi Fry, The New Republic: I couldn't keep myself from mouthing the words. I couldn't keep the sobs from rising in my throat. Read more

Verne Gay, Newsday: Morgen and his editors have simply done a remarkable job -- also an artful one -- in piecing together this residuum. Read more

Sarah Larson, New Yorker: We see-almost from the inside-the evolution of Cobain's sensitive brilliance and the art and destruction that it fed. Read more

Jim Farber, New York Daily News: At an exhaustive 2 hours and 12 minutes, the movie creates a portrait of Cobain that's more intimate, and more disturbing, than any that fans have witnessed before. Read more

Mike Hale, New York Times: [An] exhilarating, exhausting, two-hour-plus film, both an artful mosaic and a hammering barrage ... Read more

Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com: A masterful and often deeply moving portrait of a volatile American genius, a portrait that goes far beyond one man, one family and one rain-sodden small town. Read more

Charles Cross, Seattle Times: The rarity of [the] source materials alone makes this film a must-see for any hard-core Nirvana fan. Read more

David Wiegand, San Francisco Chronicle: The genius of the Montage is that Morgen eschews not only predictability, but also the pretext of trying to give definitive answers when the more rewarding path to understanding Cobain's life and career is through questions. Read more

Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic: Cobain's life has been chronicled in scores of books and documentaries, but Montage of Heck feels fresh in the scope of material it includes, the way it's presented, and the things it emphasizes. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: Morgen teases out aspects of Cobain's life that had been largely overlooked, in particular his intense ambition to succeed and his huge fear of humiliation if he didn't. Read more

Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out: For a mere 27 years, Cobain's life was unusually well documented, often by himself, and the film feels as vivid as The Devil and Daniel Johnston in delivering an artist's tortured interiority. Read more

Nick Schager, Village Voice: The result is a stunning audio-video hodgepodge that, in almost every case, captures some underlying essence of the Nirvana frontman. Read more

Hank Stuever, Washington Post: On the subject of the life and death of Kurt Cobain there is still some work to be done, but Montage of Heck may be as close as we'll get to moving on. Read more

John Anderson, Wall Street Journal: Mr. Morgen is perhaps the leading revolutionary in American documentary filmmaking, a collagist/synthesist extraordinaire who has channeled Mr. Cobain's physical legacy ... into a work of art completely his own. Read more

Sarah Rodman, Boston Globe: Montage of Heck is a fascinating look at the man who created music that still matters to so many people. Read more