Lenny Cooke
| Release Date: December 6, 2013 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
71
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 14 Critic Reviews
Positive:
10
Mixed:
4
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Village VoiceAlan ScherstuhlDec 3, 2013
Ordinary life comes to look like a humiliation in the late reels of Lenny Cooke, yet another heartbreaker of a doc in which a compelling basketball story powers a discomfiting examination of a crisis facing young American men. Read full review
91
IndieWireEric KohnNov 19, 2013
The Safdies have stood out over the last few years for continually challenging audience expectations even while seeming to adhere to conventional storytelling traditions, and that's certainly true here: You've never seen a sports movie like this before. Read full review
91
The PlaylistGabe ToroNov 19, 2013
Lenny Cooke isn't a documentary, it's an autopsy, detailing exactly why Cooke vanished off the map and why he struggled to get back into the game, a focus that goes micro where other sports docs go macro. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyDec 4, 2013
The question of why Cooke’s career never materialized hangs over the movie, but is never answered. What emerges instead is a portrait of a talented teenager being readied — by coaches, basketball camps, and the media — for a future that doesn’t arrive. Read full review
80
VarietyScott FoundasNov 19, 2013
A penetrating and ultimately heartbreaking inventory of hard lessons learned on and off the court. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleLeba HertzDec 20, 2013
Lenny Cooke is humbling, as well as a cautionary tale for young people thinking they can make the big time. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comOdie HendersonDec 6, 2013
This is quite a good sports documentary, moving and unafraid of making you work for its pleasures. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineJesse CataldoNov 19, 2013
While it verges on exploitation of the gentle giant at its core, it's also an effective bit of human drama, competently, and sometimes movingly, telling a story that deserves to be told. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesSheri LindenDec 12, 2013
A compellingly unconventional, elliptical sports documentary that explores the mysterious realm of might-have-been. Read full review
70
The DissolveScott TobiasDec 3, 2013
While Lenny Cooke’s considerable social and emotional resonance still doesn’t measure up to Hoop Dreams’, the Safdies beautifully evoke the other side of the professional game, the many basketball casualties who don’t get movies made about them. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsJordan HoffmanDec 6, 2013
This melancholy documentary shows how championship dreams can turn into a nightmare. Read full review
60
Time OutDavid FearDec 3, 2013
You walk away with far more questions than answers — a profile foul by any other name. Read full review
40
The New York TimesNicolas RapoldDec 5, 2013
Like the 1994 documentary landmark “Hoop Dreams,” Lenny Cooke measures out the years with a pensive jazz motif, but the film feels comparatively stuck on a couple of notes. Read full review
40
The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeNov 19, 2013
While a composited scene, in which has-been Lenny lectures his younger self about work ethic and wisdom, has an undeniable poignancy, actual tragedy remains far beyond the film's grasp -- as does any illumination beyond the unsurprising suggestion that Cooke just didn't want success as much as peers like LeBron James. Read full review
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