Listen to Me Marlon
Showtime | Release Date: July 29, 2015 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
87
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 27 Critic Reviews
Positive:
26
Mixed:
1
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Brad WheelerOct 2, 2015
Listen to Me Marlon is an offer so intimate that no film fan should refuse. Read full review
100
Boston GlobeTy BurrAug 19, 2015
The result is something that feels fresh, even revelatory — a work of elegiac bio-doc impressionism. Listen to Me Marlon gets under the skin of the most mysterious performer of the 20th century and forces us to recalibrate all our feelings about him. Read full review
100
Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaAug 7, 2015
Riley's film brings the American icon's career back into sharp focus. Read full review
100
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerJul 31, 2015
The result is an unprecedented voyage into the tortuous life of our greatest actor, with the actor himself serving as narrator and navigator, as dissembler and penitent. Read full review
100
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranJul 30, 2015
A revelatory, strikingly emotional look at a complex, troubled, enormously gifted man. Read full review
100
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinJul 30, 2015
Stevan Riley’s Listen to Me Marlon is the greatest, most searching documentary of an actor ever put on film, and it’s no coincidence that it’s about film’s greatest and most searching actor. Read full review
100
VarietyDennis HarveyJun 11, 2015
The pic is a superbly crafted collage whose soundtrack is as complexly textured as the curation and editing of visual elements. Read full review
91
Entertainment WeeklyJoe McGovernJul 31, 2015
A wondrously sly, moving, odd portrait—perfectly befitting its subject. Read full review
90
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternJul 30, 2015
Although movies about celebrities are often fatuous and superfluous, that’s anything but the case with Stevan Riley’s Listen to Me Marlon. This feature documentary about Marlon Brando needed to be made, and Mr. Riley made it extremely well. Read full review
90
Village VoiceStephanie ZacharekJul 28, 2015
There's nothing quite like it in the world of Hollywood documentaries, though Riley's presentation of this rich material is at times a little discomfiting. Read full review
90
Screen DailyDavid D'ArcyJun 11, 2015
Listen To Me Marlon is an elegy, with scenes of extraordinary beauty throughout – not least the young Brando himself — but Riley has not made a hagiography, nor is this documentary just for Brando fans. Read full review
90
The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyJun 11, 2015
An enthrallingly intimate look at the brilliant, troubled and always charismatic screen legend. Read full review
89
Austin ChronicleSteve DavisAug 19, 2015
No talking heads here, just Marlon in all his magnificent complexity. For any cineaste, it’s a mind-blowing experience. Read full review
88
RogerEbert.comMatt Zoller SeitzJul 30, 2015
The movie's major, perhaps only, fault is that its brilliant construction denies it the storytelling clarity and basic insights that conventional nonfiction films provide. Read full review
83
The PlaylistNikola GrozdanovicJun 11, 2015
This is Brando on Brando, and it's scintillating stuff. Read full review
80
Time Out LondonDave CalhounOct 20, 2015
It’s not all doom, gloom and personal disasters — the film also offers lucid insights on the links between the man and his movies. Read full review
80
EmpireAngie ErrigoOct 19, 2015
There is delight and distress in equal measure: for his talent, mischief, waywardness, for the disillusionment and tragedy of his later years. Unique. Read full review
80
The GuardianNigel M SmithSep 11, 2015
Director Steven Riley’s film is a fascinating collage which profoundly probes its subject’s psyche. Read full review
80
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottAug 13, 2015
As is the case with "Amy," there's probably no way any of us could ever truly understand Brando, who often seemed to be living on a different planet than that occupied by the rest of us. But with its anguished first-person voice -- and its permeating sense of sadness -- Listen to Me Marlon comes as close as one imagines is possible. Read full review
80
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzAug 6, 2015
Any fan of acting — any fan of movies — will be thrilled. Read full review
75
Washington PostJen ChaneyAug 13, 2015
Riley doesn’t merely make a fine nonfiction film about the life and legacy of the late conflicted artist. He virtually resurrects him. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleWalter AddiegoAug 6, 2015
The actor suffered deeply, and however much he’s responsible for that, it’s hard not to feel some compassion for a bright and sensitive artist who, at least early on, seemed full of life. Read full review
75
New York PostSara StewartJul 29, 2015
Whether you’re a veteran Brando-phile or a newcomer, Listen to Me Marlon is a totally fascinating glimpse into the making (and unmaking, and remaking) of a legend. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineKenji FujishimaJul 26, 2015
Among the film's many revelations is the level of self-aware humility Brando exudes while talking about his life and creative process. Read full review
70
The New York TimesManohla DargisJul 28, 2015
While its subject means that "Listen to Me” is easy to like, Mr. Riley’s shaping of Brando’s words can make the movie, every so often, difficult to fully embrace. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloJul 28, 2015
Listen To Me Marlon suffers from an atrocious score that frequently sounds like it belongs in a useless Oscar montage, and it doesn’t reveal much about Brando that cinephiles don’t already know. But the man himself is endlessly fascinating, so it’s hard to fault a movie that ditches anything extraneous (especially talking-head testimonials) in order to let him tell his own story in his own words. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsJordan HoffmanJul 29, 2015
The result is fascinating. That goes both for acting students, since we get insights into Brando’s craft, and those looking for gossip. Read full review
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