It's About You
MPI Media Group | Release Date: January 4, 2012 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
55
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 11 Critic Reviews
Positive:
5
Mixed:
4
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerJan 7, 2012
Despite never having made a movie before, and utilizing comparatively primitive camera and recording equipment, Kurt and his son Ian crafted a movie unlike any other in the rock-doc genre. Read full review
80
MovielineStephanie ZacharekJan 6, 2012
The result is a kind of homespun video scrapbook, bumpy seams and glue splotches and all; it's flawed, but at least it feels handmade and human. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinJan 6, 2012
The result is an unhurried, visually compelling look at a man and his music - as well as of a bygone America filled with shuttered downtowns and the ghosts of such late musicians as Elvis Presley and blues pioneer Robert Johnson. Read full review
70
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternJan 5, 2012
Soon I realized that the real subject of this film, with its philosophical voice-overs by the filmmaker and its haunting shots of decayed American downtowns, is the passage of time and the toll it takes. The effect of the Super 8 is to give present moments historical weight by making them look primitive; it's a kind of instant oldening that seems to pause time if not to stop it. It's About You is an odd and touching little film. I'm glad I stuck it out. Read full review
70
The New York TimesStephen HoldenJan 3, 2012
Because Kurt Markus's Super 8 camera is the cinematic equivalent of a single microphone, the film's look matches the scratchy quality of its ancient (by rock 'n' roll standards) sound. The crudeness brings out the elemental quality of music that digs deeply into the soil of working-class American life in songs that express the defiance, despair and nobility of people who refuse to go down without a fight. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubNoel MurrayJan 4, 2012
It's About You's sound is relatively clean and dynamic, but there's nothing remotely resembling a narrative here. Read full review
50
VarietyRonnie ScheibJan 4, 2012
Luckily, the music trumps the indifferently shot concert footage and lends shape to the evocatively lensed recording sessions in iconic locations. Nothing, unfortunately, mitigates Markus' sincere but trite and awkward narration. Read full review
50
Village VoiceEric HynesJan 3, 2012
The result is an amateurish travelogue that feels like a botched assignment, halfheartedly self-regarding and resentfully remote from the object of our fascination. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanJan 5, 2012
Still, every time Kurt opens his mouth you wish he would refocus and realize that, in fact, we've come to see a movie about someone else. Read full review
25
Slant MagazineKalvin HenelyJan 3, 2012
While there aren't many films shot on Super 8 anymore, It's About You, a documentary that isn't really about John Mellencamp's 2009 No Better Than This tour, doesn't make the case that moviegoing is missing anything because of that. Read full review
12
New York PostLou LumenickJan 6, 2012
The title It's About You is something Kurt Markus claims Mellencamp told him when he commissioned the film. With the elder Markus' self-important, egotistical narration rarely shutting up, it was a fairly prophetic remark. Read full review
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