Conan O'Brien Can't Stop
Abramorama | Release Date: June 24, 2011 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
64
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 25 Critic Reviews
Positive:
16
Mixed:
7
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
Entertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumJun 22, 2011
An 
unexpectedly revealing, disconcerting documentary that benefits from the filmmaker's unmediated approach, his home-movie-
quality visual style, and his controlled use of on-the-fly moments. Read full review
85
MovielineStephanie ZacharekJun 23, 2011
O'Brien describes a number of those basic human feelings that drop-kick all of us from time to time, like being resentful of anyone and everyone who still has a job when we don't. Read full review
80
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzJul 28, 2011
He's always on - this is a documentary, after all, so even when O'Brien is offstage, he's still performing in some capacity, cracking wise at the camera, of whose presence he is acutely aware. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesBetsy SharkeyJun 23, 2011
The film, like the tour, will satisfy the Conan cravings of hardcore fans the most, and prove an enjoyable enough diversion for the rest. Read full review
80
SalonAndrew O'HehirJun 23, 2011
What's clear from the film is that there's a massive, almost tribal demand for O'Brien's brand of slightly more upscale comedy (maybe less so for his rock-star stylings), and also that being that famous doesn't do wonders for anyone's personality. Read full review
80
Time OutKeith UhlichJun 21, 2011
It's an equally insightful and excruciating journey, with our quip-ready protagonist perpetually caught between two modes: eager-to-please caffeinated and near-breakdown frustrated. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeJun 19, 2011
As entertaining as any showbiz documentary in recent memory. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleJun 23, 2011
Seeing his life from the inside, the impulse to judge him fades. You would not want to trade places. Read full review
75
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanJun 23, 2011
It isn't as sad a movie as "Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work," another behind-the-mask documentary. It's funnier. But it's just as illuminating. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy BurrJun 23, 2011
Too much of the show, though, feels like frenetic movement for its own sake, as though Conan were one of those cartoon characters who runs off a cliff and stays in the air through the ceaseless pumping of his legs. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie RickeyJun 23, 2011
Like the Jerry Seinfeld documentary "Comedian," Conan offers a glimpse of the host's restlessness and creative process. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertJun 22, 2011
This is not to say Conan O'Brien is a bad man. In fact, after the movie, I rather admired him. What we are seeing is a man determined to vindicate himself after a public humiliation. Read full review
70
VarietyJoe LeydonJun 19, 2011
The biggest laughs and most intriguing revelations are provided offstage in this slickly produced documentary, as O'Brien -- often pushing himself to the point of exhaustion before, during and after performances -- plays for keeps while playing for laughs. Read full review
70
Boxoffice MagazineMark KeizerJun 19, 2011
More than just a jocular account of a musical comedy revue, Conan O'Brien Can't Stop is a snapshot of a unique man's psyche at a very peculiar moment. Read full review
67
Portland OregonianShawn LevyJun 23, 2011
In comparison to others who struggle against real travails (the young Buck Brannaman, say), he (O'Brien) seems spoilt, entitled, impatient, shrill and mean. Read full review
63
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsJun 24, 2011
A serviceable behind-the-scenes tour documentary with about as much insight as a talk-show monologue. Read full review
60
The New York TimesStephen HoldenJun 23, 2011
If Conan O'Brien Can't Stop is consistently watchable, it isn't especially funny, nor does it give any deeper insight into its star than you might get from seeing his late-night shows. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam LaceyJul 7, 2011
While a lot of geography is covered, as a concert film, Conan O'Brien Can't Stop is decidedly thin entertainment. Read full review
50
New York PostKyle SmithJun 24, 2011
Lenny this is not. Still, it's nice to know that the son of a lawyer and a microbiologist can get into Harvard and make something of himself. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubScott TobiasJun 23, 2011
The overall mood of Conan O'Brien Can't Stop is curdled and sour. It leaves the feeling that the next chapter can't come soon enough. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderJ.R. JonesJun 23, 2011
Throughout the tour O'Brien makes it a point of pride to oblige his fans, though even this comes off as self-centered. Read full review
50
Village VoiceKarina LongworthJun 21, 2011
As fly-on-the-wall as it gets-meaning the camerawork is often sloppy-Flender's film presents O'Brien in full-on Tortured Star mode, alternately overexerting himself and complaining that he's being overworked, courting attention and sulking alone. The portrayal is at times startlingly negative. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierJun 24, 2011
Full of unenlightening snippets and blithe but banal asides, what the movie is missing is edge. Read full review
38
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsJun 23, 2011
Maybe this review is more about me than about Conan O'Brien, but I really couldn't get past the odor of self-congratulation emanating from nearly every scene in Conan O'Brien Can't Stop. Read full review
38
Slant MagazineNick SchagerJun 19, 2011
Can't mask that, at heart, it's merely a trifling tour documentary that gives further excessive attention to the late-night star's 2010 ouster as The Tonight Show host. Read full review
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