Magical Universe
IFC Films | Release Date: October 31, 2014 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
60
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 6 Critic Reviews
Positive:
4
Mixed:
2
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
70
Los Angeles TimesMichael RechtshaffenNov 6, 2014
Magical Universe is a tender portrait of the artist as a weirdly gifted, wildly prolific and strange man. Read full review
70
Village VoiceAbby GarnettOct 28, 2014
This story is about tenderness and empathy, including Carbee's for his plastic proxies. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineNick McCarthyOct 30, 2014
To varying degrees of success, it attempts to prominently display Al Carbee's creations, yet keeps undermining his art in favor of investigating his skewed relationship to everyday realities. Read full review
63
McClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreOct 28, 2014
Workman’s film feels exploitative, and the filmmaker cannot help but make Carbee look a little creepy and a bit pathetic. The only thing that eases your conscience watching Magical Universe is the difficulty in deciding, “Who was using whom here?” Read full review
60
The DissolveMike D'AngeloOct 30, 2014
While the film runs only 77 minutes, that’s a good half an hour longer than the material can support, even though Workman shot it over roughly a decade. Read full review
50
The New York TimesNicolas RapoldOct 30, 2014
While Mr. Workman evidently respects Mr. Carbee’s talent, he also frames his movie as a trite narrative about a kind of lovably odd acquaintance who comes out of his shell, without many incisive ideas about shaping or broadening the material. Read full review
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