Beastie Boys Story
Apple TV+ | Release Date (Streaming): April 24, 2020 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
74
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 24 Critic Reviews
Positive:
19
Mixed:
5
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
The PlaylistJason BaileyApr 20, 2020
It is, in essence, a two-hour curtain call, a celebration of not only their music but their friendship, and a chance for the duo to have the last word on their legacy. Read full review
90
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzMay 7, 2020
The trip through their history is a trip through the 1980s and ’90s, and Diamond and Horowitz offer the unique perspective of people in the middle of it then who are on the outside looking back, knowledgeable observers who know more now than they knew then. And isn’t that the idea? Read full review
90
UproxxMike RyanApr 20, 2020
This is a film that’s hilarious, sad, and for some reason features an entire montage set to Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5.” Read full review
88
RogerEbert.comBrian TallericoApr 23, 2020
This is more than mere fan service slide show. It is a joyous, infectious story of the human capacity to change, and the importance of creative freedom to guide that change. Read full review
83
ConsequenceClint WorthingtonApr 20, 2020
To be sure, the concept of Spike Jonze directing a Beastie Boys documentary conjures up flashier results than this. But taking it for what it is, Beastie Boys Story remains an entertaining, insightful, and unexpectedly fun look back at three of hip-hop’s most iconic voices. Read full review
83
IndieWireEric KohnApr 20, 2020
Much of the movie operates as a playful nostalgia trip, and at two hours that’s asking a lot, but Beastie Boys Story is also imbued with a moving sense of purpose: The story doubles as a tribute to beloved multi-hyphenate Adam “MCA” Yauch, whose 2012 death from cancer catalyzed the dissolution of the group. Read full review
80
Screen RantChris AgarApr 30, 2020
Beastie Boys Story makes for a fun exploration of the Beastie Boys' history through the eyes of Ad-Roc and Mike D, but it may not be as comprehensive as some hoped. Read full review
80
The New York TimesA.O. ScottApr 23, 2020
It’s a jaunt down memory lane and also a moving and generous elegy. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterDaniel FienbergApr 21, 2020
Not surprisingly, it's a love letter, far more polished and smoothed-out than the genre-defying trio might have deserved in their anarchic heyday, but as warm and reflective as you might expect from the middle-aged men they are now. Read full review
80
SlateJack HamiltonApr 20, 2020
In typical Jonze fashion, the film is loose and anarchic yet deceptively well-controlled, its fourth wall always in varying states of permeability. Read full review
80
VarietyOwen GleibermanApr 20, 2020
Beastie Boys Story is less seamless, but more personal, than a classic documentary. Horovitz and Diamond are infectious company, and the film does a meticulous job of presenting the evolution of Adam Yauch, who was always on the edge of technology (it was his idea to tape-loop “When the Levee Breaks”), as well as postmodern pranksterism. Read full review
80
EmpireAlex GodfreyApr 20, 2020
A filmed stage show with barely any bells and whistles, this is an endearing trip through time, via a band who constantly changed the game. And the music is immense. Read full review
80
The GuardianPeter BradshawApr 20, 2020
This film is a time capsule of the 1980s: an era that was crass and excessive in so many ways, but now seems weirdly exotic. Read full review
75
Washington PostAnn HornadayApr 22, 2020
Equal parts celebration and self-congratulation. Read full review
75
TheWrapSteve PondApr 20, 2020
If a movie about this band of self-described “f—ing jerks” can make you feel emotional, maybe that’s proof enough that Spike Jonze didn’t need to get adventurous with this one — the material did it for him. Read full review
70
TimeStephanie ZacharekApr 21, 2020
Adam Yauch, known as MCA, was both the founder of the group and guy whose vision helped hold it together for more than 20 years; he died in 2012, from parotid cancer, and though he’s present in spirit in Beastie Boys Story, you can’t help feeling that the whole thing would be a lot more fun, and smarter, if he were around. Read full review
67
The Film StageJohn FinkApr 23, 2020
Fans may find it less than comprehensive in the later years of their history following Hello Nasty, but there perhaps is only so much one can do in this forum and the film largely succeeds at encapsulating their camaraderie and spirit. Read full review
63
The Associated PressJake CoyleApr 23, 2020
If the framework is less inspired, the story remains grand. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineSteve EricksonApr 20, 2020
Often feels like a cross between a TED talk and a memorial service, but one gets the sense that Diamond and Horovitz are finally getting years’ worth of grief off their chests. The cumulative effect is, at the very least, touching. Read full review
60
New York Magazine (Vulture)Alison WillmoreApr 21, 2020
They’re stories you can find in the book, accompanied by ones from a multitude of other contributors, including Schellenbach, who gets to give her own account of what happened. So why not just read that? Read full review
60
CineVueDaniel GreenApr 20, 2020
The tributes paid to Yauch throughout by both Horovitz and Diamond are genuinely touching, and it’s here that Beastie Boys Story breaks through its inherent – often distracting – staginess. While there is still a definitive, impartial Beastie Boys film in the offing, devout fans should be more than satisfied by this nostalgic oddity. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubErik AdamsApr 24, 2020
It’s all there in the outtakes: The Beastie Boys story is simply too big, too strange, too unwieldy for Beastie Boys Story to contain it. Read full review
50
Movie NationRoger MooreSep 25, 2020
But “Story” plays out a bit like the band itself. It peaks early, hits its giddy stride during the blur of sudden fame, notorious personal appearances and all-for-a-goof excesses, and then fizzles out utterly. Read full review
50
Screen DailyFionnuala HalliganApr 23, 2020
Jonze’s film (his first full-length feature since 2013’s Her) sits in an awkward gap between live performance and event cinema. Read full review
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