78
Metascore
12 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 90Film ThreatTim MerrillFilm ThreatTim MerrillMaybe How to Draw a Bunny itself is really Ray Johnson's final testament, created with a mischievous wink from beyond the grave. After watching this extraordinary documentary, one has no doubt that such an act is well within Johnson's creative powers.
- 90Los Angeles TimesManohla DargisLos Angeles TimesManohla DargisA seamless model of form and content. (My only quibble is the poor quality of the digital video, which doesn't do justice to Johnson's work.)
- 80Village VoiceJ. HobermanVillage VoiceJ. HobermanAbsorbing documentary portrait.
- 80VarietyDennis HarveyVarietyDennis HarveyDebuting helmer Walter assembles an aptly colorful package, with stylistic integration of elements from Johnson's delightful visual art. A major plus is the skittering percussion score by bebop jazz great Max Roach.
- 80The New York TimesLawrence Van GelderThe New York TimesLawrence Van GelderAn intriguing and entertaining introduction to Johnson through his varied art; the mystery surrounding his death, which may have been his final performance piece, and the reminiscences of contemporaries.
- The opportunity to dig into the trove of Johnson's art is an ultimate reward beyond all offbeat attempts to understand the artist himself. At its best, How To Draw A Bunny amounts to a shadow history of the American avant-garde.
- 80L.A. WeeklyElla TaylorL.A. WeeklyElla TaylorUnlike most documentaries about arty types, John Walter's wonderfully capricious, wittily edited film about Johnson seeks to make precise all the different ways in which the artist managed to remain opaque.
- 75New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanNew York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanA fascinating exploration of the mysteries of the artist's life.
- 75New York PostV.A. MusettoNew York PostV.A. MusettoProbably the most definitive portrait of Johnson that we are likely to get.
- 70TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonaghTV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonaghJohn Walter's documentary suggests that Johnson, who made no distinction between his life and his art, designed every detail of his own mysterious 1995 suicide with the same whimsical care that went into his painstakingly assembled pieces, and provides an engaging overview of Johnson's eccentric career in the process.