Lambert & Stamp
Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: April 3, 2015 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
75
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 22 Critic Reviews
Positive:
19
Mixed:
2
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyMar 30, 2015
James D. Cooper’s rollicking film is a heady return to Swinging Sixties England at the height of the Mod explosion that’s packed with primo archival material and killer tunes. It’s also a vigorous testament to the rewards of creative collaboration, shining a spotlight on two highly unorthodox, self-invented rock entrepreneurs. Read full review
90
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternApr 2, 2015
Never lacks for extravagance — the film looks as striking as it sounds — and some of the tales certainly seem outlandish. Yet they’re part of a truly remarkable origin story that the film and its subjects explore with uncommon thoughtfulness and depth of feeling. Read full review
90
Village VoiceAlan ScherstuhlMar 31, 2015
Cooper's interest is in the collaboration between the talent and its managers, in the way the duo urged their charges to begin to conceive of their sound, look, marketing, and live performances as all expressive of a singular vision. Read full review
90
VarietyRob NelsonMar 30, 2015
As much as the movie rocks, Lambert & Stamp drops the needle to reveal the deep pain barely hidden in the grooves. Read full review
88
Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaMay 21, 2015
Opens the window on a pivotal time in 1960s (and early 1970s) pop culture. Read full review
83
Portland OregonianJeff BakerMay 14, 2015
Just when you think all the great rock and roll stories have been told, along comes Lambert & Stamp. Read full review
80
EmpireSimon CrookMay 12, 2015
At two hours, things get flabby around the rock-opera era, but the film fizzes and clatters with anecdotes. Read full review
80
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzApr 23, 2015
The film is fascinating in its exploration of the give-and-take between art and commerce. Read full review
80
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriApr 6, 2015
It’s great not just because we’re eavesdropping on two rock survivors, but also because we’re seeing, in these living legends, the handiwork of the two unsung men to whom this film pays tribute. Read full review
80
The New York TimesA.O. ScottApr 2, 2015
A loving, freewheeling new documentary by James D. Cooper, tells this origin story with panache and nostalgia. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesMichael RechtshaffenApr 2, 2015
Under their all-encompassing tutelage the band originally billed as the High Numbers would go on to international renown as the Who, and the extent to which Lambert & Stamp can take credit for that transformation is thoughtfully weighed in this revealing film. Read full review
80
New York Daily NewsJim FarberApr 2, 2015
Many great docs have been made about The Who (including the ecstatic “The Kids Are All Right”), but Lambert & Stamp gets closest to the band’s fragility and unlikely story. It captures the real-life mania that surrounded a group whose music came to embody it. Read full review
80
Time OutJoshua RothkopfMar 31, 2015
Blessed with a wealth of golden b&w footage (Lambert and Stamp always planned to document their managerial brilliance), James D. Cooper’s poundingly fun, scrappy profile has an unusually satisfying nuts-and-bolts perspective on the ’60s fame machine. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy BurrApr 30, 2015
A documentary lovingly and somewhat shambolically directed by James D. Cooper, gives the duo their due and in so doing opens up a singular view on an era, its energy, and its excesses. For fans, it’s a must-see; for others, a slightly overlong tour of a seminal pop explosion and the men who made it. Read full review
75
Washington PostAnn HornadayApr 30, 2015
Through some astonishing archival footage and perceptive commentary from Who guitarist Pete ­Townshend, the filmmaker puts the band in its complicated context as both reflector and creator of the postwar British teenage gestalt. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleWalter AddiegoApr 9, 2015
There’s already a small library of films about the Who and its music, but this is the first I know of that examines the men who almost accidentally wound up managing one of the most incendiary of ’60s rock groups. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comGodfrey CheshireApr 3, 2015
A sharply crafted, highly entertaining portrait of two young Londoners who made their names and fortunes by managing a fledgling band called the High Numbers, who became The Who. Read full review
70
The DissolveKeith PhippsMar 31, 2015
It’s the choice to put the voices of the main players front and center that saves Lambert & Stamp from taking the rise-and-fall shape so familiar from Behind The Music and similar projects. Read full review
63
Movie NationRoger MooreApr 7, 2015
An eye opener. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyApr 1, 2015
Packed with rare footage from the band’s early years, and narrated through present-day sit-down interviews, it’s pop oral history at its most formless and fannish: fixated on juicy tidbits, points of influences, and historical cameos, and sorely lacking a point of view. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMarc SavlovMay 13, 2015
At times, it’s a bit like being cornered and regaled by actor Bill Nighy’s aging rocker Billy Mack from "Love Actually," but certainly more interesting, and a rewarding and informative document of some unlikely visionaries of maximum rock & roll. Read full review
38
New York PostKyle SmithApr 1, 2015
Shot through with ’60s London energy, illuminating on several fronts and featuring bits of many great Who tracks, the film is nevertheless a mess that should be taught in film schools to illustrate how not to edit a documentary. Read full review
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