Ennio
Music Box Films | Release Date: February 9, 2024 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
75
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 16 Critic Reviews
Positive:
11
Mixed:
5
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleFeb 28, 2024
Morricone’s presence in the documentary is the key element, because by watching him, we understand the sensitive qualities that made him so good at interpreting and augmenting the work of others. Read full review
90
VarietyOwen GleibermanFeb 12, 2024
The film devotes itself entirely to a celebration and exhaustive analysis of Morricone’s music — it’s a portrait of the artist as virtuoso soundtrack renegade. Read full review
88
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsMar 29, 2024
Much of the material in “Ennio” will be a revelation to the garden-variety American fan of film music (i.e. me). Read full review
80
Wall Street JournalKyle SmithFeb 8, 2024
The bad news about the Ennio Morricone documentary Ennio is its length: 2 1/2 hours. Far too short! Read full review
80
The New York TimesManohla DargisFeb 8, 2024
One of the movie’s nice surprises is that Morricone turns out to be a total charmer, a low-key showman with a demure gaze that he works like a vamp and an impish smile that routinely punctuates one of his anecdotes. Read full review
80
The GuardianLeslie FelperinJun 30, 2022
It’s not so much the running time of 156 minutes that will tire you out as the incredible sonic, visual and emotional overload generated by the work itself; perhaps this is ideally seen first in a cinema for maximum impact and then again in small, digestible chunks at home. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeJun 30, 2022
Happily, the film is more than a greatest-hits rundown (and at nearly three hours, it had better be): In addition to nuts-and-bolts musicology, it offers real engagement with a complicated character, endearingly stubborn and self-effacing, whose inventiveness changed both his chosen field (“absolute” music) and the one, film scoring, he entered only reluctantly. Read full review
80
Little White LiesSaskia Lloyd GaigerJun 30, 2022
Although it celebrates Morricone’s particular genius, this documentary is not greedy with the nostalgia it generates as it casts light on so many parts of 20th century culture. Read full review
75
Washington PostMichael Andor BrodeurApr 19, 2024
Tornatore’s tendency toward information overload is balanced by a clear affection for his subject — the film treats Morricone with the tenderness of a close friend, insisting that we see him for more than the melodies that made him famous. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comNell MinowFeb 9, 2024
The subject is one of the most innovative and influential composers of all time but the documentary that tells his story is very conventional, with chronological archival footage and talking head interviews given by the composer and his co-workers. Read full review
75
IndieWireDavid EhrlichFeb 7, 2024
There’s no doubt that Tornatore could have created a more artistically self-possessed homage to his most iconic collaborator, but then again, didn’t he already do that with “Cinema Paradiso?” Read full review
60
NMEMark BeaumontJun 30, 2022
A career of such breadth and note deserves deep exploration, certainly, but so much of the greatness of Morricone’s music speaks for itself that exposing the workings rarely enhances the piece. Read full review
60
The Observer (UK)Wendy IdeJun 30, 2022
As a tribute to the man and his legacy it’s fascinating stuff. Read full review
60
The Irish TimesTara BradyJun 30, 2022
In common with Edgar Wright’s recent portrait of Sparks, Tornatore’s film largely eschews such niceties as documentary structure in favour of enthusiastic chronology. And then Ennio worked with Pasolini; and then he worked with Dario Argento. And so on. It’s an interesting biography, nonetheless. Read full review
58
The Film StageMatt CipollaFeb 20, 2024
It’s not so much a matter of the piece being one-sided; that would at least imply a more vehement perspective. It’s the lack of deconstructive efforts here that ultimately turn the piece into less than the sum of its parts. Read full review
50
The New YorkerAnthony LaneFeb 5, 2024
Ennio turns out to be overlong, overblown, and larded with such praises that Morricone, a modest if determined soul, would blush to hear them. Read full review
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