Live From New York!
Abramorama | Release Date: June 12, 2015 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
51
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 19 Critic Reviews
Positive:
7
Mixed:
12
Negative:
0

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
San Francisco ChronicleWalter AddiegoJun 12, 2015
The film may work best as a supplement to the underwhelming three-hour-plus extravaganza broadcast in February to celebrate “SNL’s” 40th anniversary. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy BurrJun 11, 2015
There’s no backstage dirt, then — for that, pick up the 2002 “uncensored history” written by Tom Shales and James Andrew Miller — but there is an honest appraisal of the show’s peaks and valleys over the years. Read full review
75
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanJun 11, 2015
Live From New York! is a fun, not academic walk down memory lane. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubJesse HassengerJun 10, 2015
Of course, a single documentary can’t cover everything, but this one’s slim but entertaining 80 minutes suggests that Nguyen erred on the side of brevity. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerMolly EichelJun 12, 2015
Acts more like a primer for newbies unfamiliar with the show's history, giving no real insight into Lorne Michaels' long-running creation. Read full review
63
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperJun 11, 2015
Live From New York! is a solid, pleasant 82-minute walk down memory lane. But given that we’ve just been through the 40th anniversary celebration, cresting with that marathon of a TV special, it just doesn’t feel particularly necessary. Read full review
63
New York PostKyle SmithJun 10, 2015
Don’t expect the real dirt on “Saturday Night Live” from the doc Live From New York! The movie is fun, but it’s a cinematic coffee-table book. Read full review
50
RogerEbert.comSusan WloszczynaJun 12, 2015
But Live From New York! is required viewing only if the network’s own 3½-hour marathon salute to four decades of skit hilarity earlier this year was not enough of a retrospective for you. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinJun 11, 2015
The movie contains enough warmth, humor and nostalgia to prove an affable if unremarkable snapshot. Read full review
50
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsJun 11, 2015
The documentary Live from New York is a separate thing. It doesn’t try to be wild and crazy, and it can’t be comprehensive. Like a land shark, it’s an uncomfortable hybrid that bites off more than it can chew. Read full review
50
The DissolveMike D'AngeloJun 11, 2015
Given the wealth of possibilities, this doc’s superficial, exceedingly polite approach is a big disappointment. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleKimberley JonesJun 10, 2015
Size matters, too, in Live From New York!, a portrait of SNL at 40, but in inverse: 82 minutes isn’t nearly long enough to consider every angle – or even many angles – of a cultural institution. Read full review
50
Village VoiceAlan ScherstuhlJun 9, 2015
Fortunately, Live From New York! isn't all overblown hagiography. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineNick PriggeJun 7, 2015
Formally, it relies on a bevy of spectacularly funny clips and a plethora of talking heads, most of which fall back on plaudits rather than sage insights. Read full review
50
VarietyRonnie ScheibApr 16, 2015
Live From New York! registers as simultaneously too outsider and too insider — a perfect definition of mainstream media itself. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeApr 16, 2015
Director Bao Nguyen doesn't try to dig too deep, leaving serious behind-the-scenes lore to the SNL obsessives who've been poring over backstage accounts for years. Focusing on talking heads, almost all of whom say nice things about their experience of the show, he offers a puffy remembrance just a couple of notches more substantive than the supplemental doc in a DVD box set. Read full review
50
Screen DailyFionnuala HalliganApr 16, 2015
Nguyen’s documentary certainly leaves the viewer wanting more. Read full review
40
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriJun 12, 2015
It’s too cursory, too frivolous to make a case for the show’s importance as an American institution, even though it insists on it. Read full review
40
The New York TimesStephen HoldenJun 11, 2015
“Saturday Night Live” deserves much better than the documentary equivalent of what a book editor would surely dismiss as a rushed, careless clip job. Read full review
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