Belushi
Showtime Networks | Release Date (Streaming): November 22, 2020 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
72
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 17 Critic Reviews
Positive:
14
Mixed:
3
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
CNNBrian LowryNov 20, 2020
Belushi turns out to be a lot more than just another look at a star who succumbed to drug abuse, but rather a celebration of John Belushi's talent -- and an era -- as recalled by those who knew him best. R.J. Cutler's documentary has its melancholy moments, but from the opening glimpse of Belushi's "Saturday Night Live" audition video, it surely won't give you the blues. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperNov 22, 2020
Even though the Chicago-born and Wheaton-raised Belushi’s life story and legacy has been examined time and again, the documentary simply titled Belushi is a work of great value. Read full review
83
The PlaylistChris BarsantiOct 13, 2020
The movie does not stint on Belushi’s destructive, self-sabotaging, and cruel habits. Read full review
80
The New York TimesNicolas RapoldDec 16, 2020
Belushi taps the sweetness in a cultural fixture with an irreplaceably wild sense of fun. Read full review
80
VarietyOwen GleibermanOct 27, 2020
In the film, Belushi’s own letters betray his fear that he had reached the point of no return. Yet there can be a shadow hint of intentionality to all that. Belushi was a bighearted person who craved no limits. In some terrible way, he went out like the rock star he was. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckOct 15, 2020
Home movie footage shot by Judy during a period of Belushi's sobriety at the couple's summer home in Martha's Vineyard provides a poignant glimpse of the normal life he could have lived. That his early loss left so much potentially great work undone makes the documentary as much elegy as tribute. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleRichard WhittakerNov 20, 2020
It's challenging not to see shades of Robin Williams, who was not just Belushi's equal in talent and predilection for pharmaceuticals but also his friend. Williams admitted more than once that it was Belushi's death that made him get sober, the ultimate wake-up call. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsNov 23, 2020
Cutler’s documentary skip-walks a fine line between a great, unstable talent’s rise and fall, and between the un-tender trap of addiction and the joyous energy of a Chicago-bred giant. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubGwen IhnatNov 22, 2020
Cutler takes on the ambitious task of showing not only Belushi’s impact, but how that impact wound up leading to his own ruin. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliNov 21, 2020
Although mysteries remain, the film uncovers enough to re-enforce the maxim that fame and stardom can exacerbate rather than cure some ills of the soul. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy BurrNov 18, 2020
Belushi was at his best when he was allowed to build, moving from soft-spoken sanity to a maelstrom of fury over the course of a two-minute sketch. We get the infamous Joe Cocker impression, flailing away next to the real thing; we’re reminded of his truly remarkable skills as a physical comedian; and we get most of my favorite skit, the “Little Chocolate Donuts” ad. But a full measure of the man’s art (and it was art) is missing. Read full review
75
IndieWireEric KohnOct 14, 2020
It’s always fun to sit through a clip reel when the talent quotient is this high, but Belushi doesn’t sugarcoat the sadness at the core of the actor’s legacy. Read full review
72
TheWrapSteve PondOct 15, 2020
If it starts out to be a biography of Belushi the performer, it ends up as the cautionary tale of Belushi the human being. Read full review
67
The Film StageMatt CipollaNov 7, 2020
For a look at the life of John Belushi, it’s a fittingly brisk one. For a dive into his career, it’s one that, despite a general lack of originality, mines a few solid points. Read full review
60
Rolling StoneDavid FearNov 22, 2020
If Belushi does nothing else, it does a fine job of scaling him back down to size without giving his immense talent short shrift. Read full review
60
Wall Street JournalJohn AndersonNov 19, 2020
Being a person who grew up with him as a live cultural presence, I’m a highly biased fan of the man. Still, like its subject, “Belushi” is sometimes simply too much. Read full review
50
RogerEbert.comPeter SobczynskiOct 15, 2020
Someday, there will be a take on the life and work of John Belushi that is as fascinating, complex, and entertaining as he was. Belushi, however, is not quite that film. Read full review
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