60
Metascore
14 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 80Village VoiceErnest HardyVillage VoiceErnest HardyDirector Ryan White has crafted a deceptively simple film that should almost immediately win viewers over with its low-key charm.
- 80The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeThe Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForePure joy for Beatles fans and, one guesses, charming enough to seduce some viewers who wouldn't mind never hearing "She Loves You" ever again.
- 75San Francisco ChronicleSan Francisco ChronicleAlthough the filmmakers apparently wanted to focus on the Beatles, the movie's strongest moments are about Freda herself.
- 60Los Angeles TimesSheri LindenLos Angeles TimesSheri LindenWhite's film is a love letter not just to Kelly and the Beatles, but also to postwar working-class Liverpool.
- 60Time OutMichael AtkinsonTime OutMichael AtkinsonWhite’s revelation-free, nostalgia massage of a film works the archivals with genuine fondness.
- 60New York Daily NewsNew York Daily NewsTruth is, only hard-core fans of the Fab Four — granted, that’s a lot of people — will find themselves enthralled by this memo-by-memo account of the woman who spent 10 years handling the Liverpool lads’ mail. Others may be only mildly interested.
- 50Slant MagazineSlant MagazineThe documentary will prove fascinating only to the die-hard fans that Freda Kelly spent years writing to, though in this case that's no small number of people.
- 50The DissolveKeith PhippsThe DissolveKeith PhippsWhile Good Ol’ Freda will surely fascinate hardcore Beatles fans, there simply isn’t a feature-length story here.
- 50The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisThe New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisGood Ol’ Freda celebrates an intensely private witness to four of the most public lives in pop-culture history.
- 42The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyThe A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyThe impression left is that of a movie bending over backward to not let its subject tell her life story.