Life Itself 2014

Wesley Morris, Grantland: It also makes clear that Ebert didn't want to partake in a movie that sweetened who he was. He'd be proud to know that the movie of his life is sugar-free. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: What does the movie version of Life Itself really have to show or tell us? A great deal, it turns out. Read more

Jake Coyle, Associated Press: What comes through most in Life Itself, a film named after Ebert's 2011 memoir, is his great, open-minded vigor. Read more

Kyle Smith, New York Post: Ebert's honesty, his industry and most of all his bottomless enthusiasm for his metier make for a lasting monument. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: A beautifully paced tribute to a life well-lived. Read more

Scott Foundas, Variety: James cuts - as in all of his best work - straight to the human heart of the matter, celebrating both the writer and the man, the one inseparable from the other, largely in Ebert's own words. Read more

A.A. Dowd, AV Club: Few will get through the film not feeling as though they know and understand the author a little better, a little more deeply, a little more intimately. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: A portrait of Ebert that is funny, moving, sad, harrowing and ultimately uplifting. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: Ebert once described the cinema as "a machine that generates empathy." Watching James's lovely film, you know exactly what he means. Read more

Ben Sachs, Chicago Reader: No less than James's capital punishment documentary At the Death House Door, this asks us to think long and hard about what it means to die with dignity. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: The film is a little soft, and tactful to a fault. Yet it's a work of taste and generosity, in keeping with its subject, and James ensures that it avoids the hometown-hero "attaboy!" attitude some feared might come of such a project ... Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: [Ebert's] clear, sensible prose will probably hold up better than some of the more frantic efforts of his contemporaries. His greatest legacy, however, as this film documents, was his courage in the endgame of his life. Read more

Chris Vognar, Dallas Morning News: Incisive, graceful and, yes, deeply empathetic. Read more

Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: That [Siskel and Ebert] weren't very nice to each other might be the too-easy takeaway of outtakes of their on-set interactions. James allows that relationship to be more complicated and vital. Read more

James Rocchi, Film.com: Steve James' documentary recognizes that Roger Ebert's genius was that he was not a genius. Read more

Todd McCarthy, Hollywood Reporter: A fulsome appreciation of the life and work of the world's most famous film critic. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: It's another mark of the director's skill that he took me deeper into aspects of that life that I thought I knew the most about. Read more

Randy Myers, San Jose Mercury News: "Life Itself," filmmaker Steve James' moving tribute to America's most popular film critic, serves as a poignant reminder of what a distinguished journalist and courageous man he was. Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: Life Itself reminds you how unpredictable Ebert's tastes: He loved Benji the Hunted and tore Scarface and Blue Velvet apart. Read more

Rafer Guzman, Newsday: This movie is never maudlin or sentimental. It shows us a man who, whatever his flaws, seemed to live his life in exactly the right way. Read more

Richard Brody, New Yorker: A paradoxical and vitally overflowing character emerges: a compassionate moralist with vast appetites, a raucous public performer whose confessional candor had a nearly religious purity. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: I never ceased to amaze at the man's work ethic (he saw, and covered, hundreds of movies a year, filing stories even the week of his death). And I marveled at the grace with which he navigated his final, immensely challenging years. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: "Life Itself" is a joy. It celebrates colorful characters, an indomitable spirit and a generous mind. Read more

Geoffrey O'Brien, New York Times: Deep currents of love and sorrow flow under the succession of often funny recollections of a busy life. But it is a wake where the departed is still present. Read more

Michael Sragow, Orange County Register: What makes Life Itself such a wonderful documentary is that it weds Ebert's passion for the good things in life to his quest to find great movies. Read more

Gary Thompson, Philadelphia Inquirer: Takes a probing, profound look at Ebert's life and career, in a way that just might encourage you to believe again in the possibility of the American experiment. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: This is a uniquely powerful motion picture, the kind of open and honest portrayal I can't ever recall having seen about a celebrity. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: Though Life Itself is a warts-and-all portrait Ebert didn't live to review, my guess is his thumbs would be shooting upward. Mine sure are. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: The film's core is footage shot during the last four months of Ebert's life, when he had lost most of his jaw and was unable to eat or speak. It's hard to see him in this state, which makes his frequent cheerfulness and humor all the more remarkable. Read more

Dana Stevens, Slate: [An] affectionate, candid, sometimes tough-to-watch tribute to Roger Ebert ... Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: How fitting that America's most important movie critic has become the subject of a fine movie himself. Read more

Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "Life Itself" completes the circular conversation between the movies, the man and the masses. Read more

Bruce Ingram, Chicago Sun-Times: Far more than just a tribute to the career of the world's most famous and influential film critic, the often revelatory "Life Itself" is also a remarkably intimate portrait of a life well lived -- right up to the very last moment. Read more

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: A tribute and historical perspective on the man behind a pop-cultural phenomenon. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: An account that's affectionate but also honest, taking the title and much of the content of Ebert's bestselling 2011 autobiography. Read more

Alonso Duralde, TheWrap: A captivating portrait of a man who embraced life and art, whose spirit never flagged even when his body did. Read more

Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out: Ebert was a sparrer, a happy combatant, and the movies were always a springboard to a conversation. His life's work is well-represented here ... Read more

Bruce Kirkland, Toronto Sun: With Ebert's blessing and encouragement, Life Itself is a warts-and-all look at how the son of an Illinois electrician and housewife became a prolific writer who spent 46 years as the film critic at the Chicago Sun Times. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: [Ebert] makes for a compelling subject, intimately portrayed in a revelatory documentary. Read more

Stephanie Zacharek, Village Voice: Life Itself seems about as comprehensive as it could be, though perhaps it doesn't adequately stress Ebert's generosity toward younger critics, even those not so much younger than himself. Read more

David Edelstein, New York Magazine/Vulture: Not even The Diving Bell and the Butterfly drives home the mind-body schism as movingly. Read more

Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: If you aren't moved by Life Itself, you ought to have your heart examined. Read more