Reviews

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  ★★★★ review by Ken on Letterboxd

  Time to watch every episode of All In The Family.

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  ★★★½ review by Ken Rudolph on Letterboxd

  At age 93, Norman Lear is still active and relevant...a true cultural touchstone. This documentary examines his life with many examples of the television shows that he created, along with interviews with Lear himself and others in his productive life. It is hard to come up with a more culturally influential, groundbreaking late 20th century figure. Just as it is hard to come up with a show more culturally important than "All in the Family." Well, perhaps I'm prejudiced because his left-leaning Jewish sensibility matches my own. This particular film does attempt a certain artistry...using a young actor to metaphorically portray Lear's life in reflection. I'm not sure that this technique worked particularly well. This is a good example of a documentary with an exemplary and important subject that just doesn't quite jell as an entertainment. That is something that no Norman Lear show ever was guilty of.

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  ★★★½ review by KB Burke on Letterboxd

  Film #1 of June 2018 Scavenger Hunt #3
  
  Task #1: Watch a film starring an actor or actress from Kentucky.
  
  (George Clooney)

  Needed something to wash away the distaste of Suburbicon and i've apparently seen almost everything that George Timothy Clooney has been in that I can easily get my hands on. Soooo...

  Well done doc, covering the legendary years of Lear's television development and production. Very open and transparent as it also shares some dark times in his life, that just leads to a well rounded film.

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  ★★★★ review by thirstypup on Letterboxd

  I'm still choked up as I'm writing this, minutes after watching this documentary about one of my heroes. It gives me so much joy to drive by a mural of the New Haven native son on my way to work. I absorbed so much from reruns of his landmark shows when I was growing up in the 80s. I studied his work in grad school. But I would encourage anyone who wants to get a sense of how art can fight bigotry in our turbulent times to get a whiff of this one.

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  ★★★★ review by Ripplin on Letterboxd

  I've enjoyed many of Mr. Lear's shows, especially All in the Family, but I didn't know a whole lot about the man himself. This corrects that deficiency. ;)

  I enjoyed how it gave a whole picture of his life, without certain aspects being too short or long. It's a smooth transition from childhood with an Archie Bunker-like father, to TV writer amidst social upheaval, to retiree and activist.

  I think my favorite part involved Good Times. New interview footage with John Amos and archival with Esther Rolle reveal how turbulent it was working on that show, partly due to difficulties with the cast not agreeing with scripts, and largely due to the way Jimmy Walker's character was portrayed. (and it's quite understandable!)

  Anyone who appreciates good TV should check this out, especially considering how Lear's projects most definitely changed TV forever.

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