Reviews

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  ★★★½ review by Cmanh21 on Letterboxd

  A very informative and confident documentary about Mike Nichols and the beginning of his career in theater and film. Shockingly inspiring, would recommend for any aspiring directors.

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  ★★★½ review by Andrew Cochran on Letterboxd

  There was some fantastic information about THE GRADUATE, and it was wonderful hearing this all straight from the horse's mouth. Perhaps a step above the average talking heads/interview docs, but not much. I love Nichols, though; so, if you're a fan of Nichols, you should probably watch this.

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  ★★★★ review by PaulLyons on Letterboxd

  Terrific, yet all too brief, documentary featuring the last interview from the great theater, television and film director Mike Nichols. Shot in 2014, director Douglas McGrath used both public and private interviews with Nichols, conducted by theater/television director Jack O'Brien to create BECOMING MIKE NICHOLS.

  Tracing Nichols' life from his early years in Germany in the 1930's, to life in America and his time in Chicago, where he met the woman who would change his life: Elaine May. The Nichols-May partnership and act was very successful on stage and on television for its use of improvisational comedy. Once the partnership was over, Nichols eventually became a successful theater director with big hits such as "Barefoot In The Park" as well as "The Odd Couple." This led to his first film WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOLF?, and the iconic 60'S classic THE GRADUATE.

  Despite declining health, Mike Nichols was still sharp, and fun and witty, and very expressive in his candor discussing working with the likes of Elaine May, Art Carney, Walter Matthau, Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, and Dustin Hoffman, as well as encounters with the likes of Neil Simon, Edward Albee, Lillian Hellman, and Jack Warner.

  BECOMING MIKE NICHOLS is a fascinating look at a great artist, and sadly only covers Nichols' career up until the time he won the Oscar for Best Director in 1968 for THE GRADUATE. Left on the table are what one would suppose are the great stories about the 19 other film and telefilms he had made since that time. No matter. Even at only 72 minutes, BECOMING MIKE NICHOLS delivers the goods on profiling a great man.

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  ★★★★ review by Courtney LeSueur on Letterboxd

  "Here’s the thing about black and white, it’s why I was so sad to say goodbye to it. It’s not literal. It is a metaphor, automatically. And my orientation is that that’s the point: a movie is a metaphor. ‘What is the metaphor?’ You ask when you’re trying to solve the problem. If you’re in black and white it’s partly solved, it is already saying, ‘No this is not life, this is something about life.'"

  Over-abbreviated but wonderful. I wanted to listen to Mike Nichols recount stories from his career for hours. The Graduate is my favorite film of all time, so hearing any stories about the making of is truly a joy for me. Plus there's a lot of May/Nichols footage, which is a treat!

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  ★★★½ review by Njabs Phungula on Letterboxd

  There isn't a lot of new stuff to pick up here but I love that we get to hear everything straight from the horse's mouth.

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