The Art of the Steal 2010

A.O. Scott, At the Movies: It's a really interesting story, but I think it's just too black and white. Read more

David Edelstein, New York Magazine/Vulture: Calculated to enrage and pulling it off like gangbusters... Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: I found it fascinating for a number of reasons, balanced reporting not among them. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: It's impossible not to be moved by the almost eerie film footage of the walls of the Barnes' original home with the art removed, revealing bare hooks and patches of unfaded paint: ghosts, doomed to wander. Read more

Scott Tobias, AV Club: The film is convincing and righteous in its advocacy. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: The movie's never less than entertaining, but you often feel like arguing with the screen, and not in a good way. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: No matter what side you're on, you're likely to be flabbergasted as The Art of the Steal details the twists and turns of chicanery and fate that brought his art to the pass it's at today. Read more

Cliff Doerksen, Chicago Reader: Argott beautifully explicates how this crew pulled off the most daring daylight art theft in history, though his passionate identification with the pro-Barnes faction limits the movie's political nuance. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: The film's good versus bad scenario is, while understandable, too simplistic. Read more

Kyle MacMillan, Denver Post: A blunt, persuasive documentary. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: The Art of the Steal lays out a good story, but perhaps not the whole story. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: At times, The Art of the Steal is a bit too shocked by the vulgarity of commerce, but it's memorable when it meditates on the changing face of where we look at art, and how that changes the art itself. Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: Argott treats Barnes' story as an intellectual crime thriller, uncovering each new surprise - and a seemingly endless parade of villains - with a deadpan flourish. Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/movies/2010/02/26/2010-02-26_short_tak Read more

Kyle Smith, New York Post: Is it really "a tragedy" that lots more people will get to see these paintings? Read more

Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer: As a narrative of the facts, it is as one-sided as a plaintiff's brief. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: What is finally clear: It doesn't matter a damn what your will says if you have $25 billion, and politicians and the establishment want it. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: Marshaling a wealth of archival and new material, it made me want to hop on a plane to Philadelphia to see the original before it's emptied. Read more

Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: While outraged aesthetes tell us that the Barnes Foundation is a perfect jewel box of a museum, the filmmakers they hired to argue their case don't spend enough time exploring or explaining what makes this cloister so special. Read more

Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out: The prickliness of the doc will stay with you long after its sour hysteria fades. Read more

Melissa Anderson, Village Voice: The Art of the Steal presents its aesthetes versus Phila-stines argument cogently, convincingly, and engagingly. Read more

Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: The Art of the Steal ultimately gets mired in the legal weeds, a snare made all the more frustrating by the fact that the move is a fait accompli. Read more