12 O'Clock Boys
Oscilloscope Laboratories | Release Date: January 31, 2014 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
68
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 20 Critic Reviews
Positive:
12
Mixed:
7
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
IndieWireEric KohnJan 26, 2014
Nathan never condescends to Pug or his cohorts, instead smartly allowing their brazen maneuvers to run the show. Read full review
85
NPRIan BuckwalterJan 31, 2014
Nathan's film gets at a difficult and sobering fact: Pug's world is one that often rewards only hard detachment and distrust. That's a cultural tradition perhaps even more entrenched than the dirt bikes, and one from which it's more difficult to find release. Read full review
80
The DissolveScott TobiasJan 29, 2014
As reticent as Nathan is to cast explicit judgment, the film shows the tragic impasse between a street culture that’s reckless and provocative, and a police force that exacerbates the problem with heavy-handed tactics. Read full review
80
Village VoiceAmy NicholsonJan 28, 2014
What lingers in Nathan's documentary isn't the swaggering trails of diesel fumes. It's the sadness of watching Pug narrow his options. Read full review
80
VarietyPeter DebrugeJan 26, 2014
Using Baltimore’s dirt-bike groups as its entry point, the film offers a remarkable grassroots look at how the system is broken at the inner-city level. Read full review
75
The PlaylistKimber MyersFeb 3, 2014
12 O’Clock Boys is an exciting, beautifully shot look at a subculture through the eyes of one of its most devoted admirers. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerJan 31, 2014
It’s to Nathan’s credit that he doesn’t negate the allure of dirt-bike riding as an escape hatch from inner-city woes. Read full review
75
Portland OregonianMarc MohanJan 30, 2014
Apart from its sociological interest, though, Nathan's film offers the pleasure of some really impressive stunt driving. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloJan 29, 2014
At just 75 minutes, the movie doesn’t wear out its welcome, though its shapelessness can be frustrating; it ends abruptly, on a moment that could be interpreted as a triumph or as a profound loss, and it doesn’t seem to care much what one concludes. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineKenji FujishimaJan 26, 2014
It constantly divides itself between fulfilling the conventions of the informational talking-heads documentary and aiming for a more poetically impressionistic quality. Read full review
70
The New York TimesNicolas RapoldJan 30, 2014
12 O’Clock Boys packs more life into its 72 minutes than many longer documentaries do. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy BurrFeb 13, 2014
As a depiction of extralegal activity, 12 O’Clock Boys is eye-opening but sometimes needlessly ambiguous. Read full review
60
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottJan 31, 2014
12 O'Clock Boys is reminiscent of the Ross brothers' far more lyrically shot 2012 film "Tchoupitoulas," which tagged along with three New Orleans boys for a night of exploration and boundary-testing in the French Quarter. The setting is different in Nathan's film, and Nathan doesn't commit as fully as the Rosses did to visual artistry. But there are thematic similarities, to be sure. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinJan 30, 2014
The young filmmaker rarely digs beneath the harsh environment's many fraught surfaces. He simply lets his cameras be his guide. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckJan 30, 2014
The film, which feels attenuated despite its brief running time, doesn’t dig deep enough to provide more than an impressionistic portrait. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanJan 30, 2014
Coco’s angry frustration, Pug’s bruised confusion, and the police helicopters constantly hovering above the defiant bikers say enough. Read full review
60
Time OutKeith UhlichJan 28, 2014
There’s bleakness in the beauty: What begins as a personal coming-of-age story ends as a tragic tale of a community’s stunted adolescence. Read full review
60
Time Out LondonTom HuddlestonJan 26, 2014
A little too rough around the edges to fully engage. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleWalter AddiegoJan 30, 2014
Taking a stand would have made the film stronger, and might even have been helpful to young Pug and his peers. Read full review
25
RogerEbert.comGodfrey CheshireJan 31, 2014
A thin, problematic and amateurishly-made documentary, 12 O'Clock Boys plays like two films awkwardly grafted together. Read full review
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