51 Birch Street
Truly Indie | Release Date: October 18, 2006 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
77
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 16 Critic Reviews
Positive:
15
Mixed:
1
Negative:
0
Watch Now
Buy on

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
San Francisco ChronicleRuthe Stein
Block's hypnotic documentary, among the finest of the year. Read full review
100
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
51 Birch Street, like the best of the recent wave of personal documentaries, is both a compelling story and an eye-opening bit of social history. Read full review
91
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
A warm and honest portrait of a marriage at its most mysterious, and ordinary. Read full review
88
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Through haunting home movies, Mina's diaries and interviews with Mike, a raw, riveting portrait emerges of what a child sees in his parents' relationship and what lies beneath. Read full review
80
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
Block has made a sad, delightful and half-accidental movie about his own parents. Read full review
80
VarietyEddie Cockrell
A tonal triumph of true-life storytelling told with equal measures of tension and redemption. Read full review
80
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
Mr. Block has put his parents’ life, and his own, into this film with such warmth and candor that it may take more than one viewing to recognize it as a work of art. Read full review
80
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
Open-minded, probing but never prurient, 51 Birch Street is much more than a portrait of suburban ennui. It's a loving, painful map of the gulf between thought and word, between word and deed, that props up good marriages, and sends bad ones to hell. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesSam Adams
What makes 51 Birch Street a moving revelation rather than a therapeutic exercise is Block's commitment to understanding his parents, Mike and Mina, on their own terms, regardless of what it does to his image of them. Read full review
80
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
Block, an experienced documentarian, does an outstanding job walking the knife-edge between personal and self-absorbed. Read full review
75
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
What's best about Block's documentary is how well he captures his own shifting perceptions. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
The intimate history of Doug Block's parents becomes fodder for a broader look at family secrets in this complex documentary. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
The film has a compelling way about it. All five of the immediate Block family members emerge in full and affecting portraits. Read full review
70
Village VoiceMelissa Levine
Begins shakily, with a naked self-consciousness that can be off-putting, but quickly develops into an absorbing and ever deepening drama. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
This isn't always adept as storytelling, and Block's coming to terms with his own denseness occasionally tries one's patience, but he manages to make the overall process of his reeducation fascinating and compelling. Read full review
42
The A.V. ClubTasha Robinson
The joys of watching a man carry out his own therapy onscreen are fairly limited. Read full review
More From This Movie

77 Critic Reviews

7.7 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 81 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
2 77 Project Hail Mary
3 75 Send Help
4 73 Hoppers
5 71 The Sheep Detectives
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL