Air Guitar Nation
Docurama | Release Date: March 23, 2007 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
72
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 15 Critic Reviews
Positive:
15
Mixed:
0
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
83
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
When C-Diddy (a.k.a. David Jung), in his samurai superman suit, does his note-perfect, lip-twisting, belly-jiggling manic mime of Extreme's ''Play With Me,'' it's hard not to grin and admit that, yes, this is almost an art form. Read full review
80
Village VoiceRob Nelson
My long strums are pretty f---ing tight," gushes one faux-ax-stroker in this slick, hilarious, and at times even suspenseful ode to competitive mock-rock and/or the further decline of Western civ. Read full review
80
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
I don't know whether to call it interpretive dance for dudes or performance art or just a highly developed form of wanking. Who cares? It seriously rocks. Read full review
80
NewsweekDavid Ansen
The nutty thing is, by the end of this jolly, oddly compelling and genuinely suspenseful documentary, the ridiculousness of such notions seems open to genuine debate. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleToddy Burton
Flat out, Air Guitar Nation (winner of the Audience Award at South by Southwest 06) is a damn good time. Read full review
75
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
Without their efforts, ordinary moviegoers would never know that air-guitar competitors must craft a series of one-minute routines, some to songs they've only just heard, or that their efforts are judged on the 4.0 to 6.0 scale used to rank competitive figure skaters. Important to know? No. Fascinating? Absolutely. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liz Clayton
The film manages to make surprisingly convincing gestures toward the power of communion, and indeed pantomime, that make the world shine a bit more hopeful. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleJustin Berton
In this pitch-perfect documentary about the very real rise of air guitar competition in the United States, and two of its top performers, stony thoughts will arise as to whether one is suddenly trapped inside a satire that got wrapped in a reality. Or vice versa, man. Read full review
70
VarietyRonnie Scheib
With equal measures of showmanship, patriotism and irony, hundreds vie at NYC's Pussycat Lounge for the East Coast Division of the first-ever nationwide air guitar championship for the right to eventually represent the U.S. at the world championship. Read full review
70
The New York TimesMatt Zoller Seitz
The movie's wild performances and droll humor are tough to resist. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesKevin Crust
It's one of the charms of Air Guitar Nation that much of it plays like a mockumentary in which you're not quite sure who's pulling your leg. But it's real, even if the guitars are not. Read full review
67
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
Director Alexandra Lipsitz doesn't do much more than chronicle the noise, but it's intermittently fun stuff. Read full review
67
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
There are occasional moments of wisdom, drama and emotion, but we never quite forget the blunt confession of one of the founders of the world championship, who admits that the whole thing began as a joke. Psst, buddy: it still is. Read full review
63
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Documentarian Alexandra Lipsitz believes that air-guitar competitions are worth a whole feature-length movie. She's wrong, of course. But the fun lasts longer than you might think. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeJanice Page
A semiserious documentary about a cult of performance art that until recently was never meant to be taken seriously. Read full review
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