74
Metascore
20 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 88Movie NationRoger MooreMovie NationRoger MooreA terrific film, not as moving or damning as this year’s Amy Winehouse expose, but a warm piece of cinematic scholarship.
- 83The A.V. ClubNoel MurrayThe A.V. ClubNoel MurrayWhenever the story starts to drag, Berg cuts to a scene like Big Brother’s era-defining performance of “Ball And Chain” at Monterey, which had even Los Angeles’ prematurely jaded rock superstars gaping in justified awe. They knew they were watching something explosive, in a package too fragile to contain it.
- 80Time OutJoshua RothkopfTime OutJoshua RothkopfAmy Berg’s deeply sympathetic documentary on Janis Joplin — a singer whose shredded wail tapped reservoirs of pain — gets so much right, it feels like a major act of cultural excavation.
- 75The PlaylistKevin JagernauthThe PlaylistKevin JagernauthWhile aesthetically it doesn’t do much to break the form, it more than succeeds in presenting Joplin as a flawed, insecure, deeply brilliant woman who, unfortunately, couldn’t shake her demons.
- 75Slant MagazineChuck BowenSlant MagazineChuck BowenIt grounds us so effectively in Joplin's emotional realm as to partially rekindle the social transcendence that her voice must have represented for its owner.
- 70The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyThe Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyWhile there are numerous dynamite performance clips, Berg's film is generally more revealing on a personal level than as an appreciation of her music.
- 60CineVueJohn BleasdaleCineVueJohn BleasdaleBerg's Little Girl Blue inevitably concentrates on the tragic parabola of the life without fully getting to the heart of the art.
- 58IndieWireKate ErblandIndieWireKate ErblandLong-time fans of Joplin's music will likely not find much new material to relish in "Janis: Little Girl Blue," and if the film earns any new acolytes for the songstress, it will be the result of Joplin's own charisma, not of the presentation of the film built so shakily around her.
- 50Village VoiceAlan ScherstuhlVillage VoiceAlan ScherstuhlAs the film heaps all its sadnesses on us, the rest of Joplin languishes unexamined.