A Sidewalk Astronomer
Jacobs Entertainment Inc. | Release Date: July 6, 2005 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
60
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 9 Critic Reviews
Positive:
4
Mixed:
4
Negative:
1

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
New York PostV.A. Musetto
As we learn, delightfully so, in Jeffrey Fox Jacobs' documentary A Sidewalk Astronomer, the Peking-born Dobson promotes the building and use of small, inexpensive telescopes to study the wonders of the sky. Read full review
70
VarietyRonnie Scheib
Entertaining, painlessly educational documentary. Read full review
70
The New York TimesLawrence Van Gelder
An inspiring film about an inspired teacher. It should leave all viewers with an ounce of curiosity eager to hit the streets with Dobsonian telescopes of their own. Read full review
70
Washington PostDesson Thomson
A documentary that knows to sit back and listen as [Dobson] expounds on a variety of subjects. Read full review
60
The A.V. ClubNoel Murray
Jacobs focuses almost exclusively on Dobson's theories and mission, which he illustrates by contrasting jaw-dropping images of the sun's surface with people ignoring Dobson's entreaties to "Come look at the sun." Read full review
60
Village VoiceBenjamin Strong
An unenlightening recitation of lay science and salad bar spirituality that could only resonate with those audiences who last year actually flocked to a movie called "What the Bleep Do We Know!?" Read full review
60
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
An amateur in the best sense of the word, Dobson is an engaging ambassador for a life of the mind lived firmly in the real world. Read full review
50
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Some of his theories seem cockamamie compared with current intellectual norms, though, so it's too bad the filmmakers don't give him time to make a coherent case. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleG. Allen Johnson
An entirely unconventional, hypnotic, meandering film. Read full review
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