My Kid Could Paint That
Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: October 5, 2007 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
74
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 25 Critic Reviews
Positive:
21
Mixed:
4
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
Amir Bar-Lev's documentary is fascinating on all kinds of levels: as a movie about the nature of art, the lure and pitfalls of celebrity, and the complicated conundrums of parenting. Read full review
100
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
It is a wonder, marked by a sense of wondrous skepticism that has nothing to do with cynicism. Read full review
100
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
It's a dissection of how the media found and fed and nurtured the story in their insatiable need for content to fill their news hours and talk shows, how it just as quickly turned on them and transformed the story from celebration to vilification, and how the public turned right along with them. Read full review
91
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
Amir Bar-Lev's engrossing film is as much about the stubborn ambiguities of art, truth, meaning, and relationships as it is about the authenticity of the Olmstead oeuvre. Read full review
91
The A.V. ClubNoel Murray
When others can't see what parents see, there's an inescapable ache. As much as anything, My Kid Could Paint That is about that ache. Read full review
90
Film ThreatSally Foster
Aside from being a captivating and highly interesting film, Bar-Lev's My Kid Could Paint That is also something extremely rare – a piece of honest journalism. Read full review
88
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
Bar-Lev also explores the freakish popular appeal of child prodigies, the family dynamics that come into play when a child's celebrity and earning capacity overshadows the adults', and the remarkably conflicted and contradictory admissions drawn from Brunelli about Marla's work. Read full review
88
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
Features entertainingly brainy musings from New York Times art critic Michael Kimmelman, and comments from child psychologists, friends and Marla collectors. Read full review
83
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
The result is a true conundrum: You can't say for sure if a scam is in play or if a genuine genius is being smeared. And the brilliance of the film is that it doesn't let you feel secure in choosing either side. Read full review
80
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
The mystery has never been resolved, but to his credit Bar-Lev acknowledges that he himself has become part of the story, torn between sympathy and suspicion. Read full review
80
Dallas ObserverRobert Wilonsky
My Kid Could Paint That's about art—and it IS art, among the best documentaries ever made about that elusive process of manufacturing something out of nothing. But it's also a must-see for every single parent who believes their children are special, when all they want to be is your children. Read full review
80
EmpireWill Lawrence
A highly engaging documentary that recounts a remarkable tale. Young Marla is clearly talented, but so too is her father… Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
Everyone involved, from Marla's defensive parents to the cynical journalists who promoted and then turned on her, seems to have some sort of agenda. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleKenneth Baker
No one emerges unpunished. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
The winner of this year's audience award for best documentary at Sundance has it all: heartless media, art fraud and a four-year-old painting prodigy. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
In the last analysis, I guess it all reduces to taste and instinct. Some paintings are good, says me, or says you, and some are bad. Some paintings could be painted by a child, some couldn't be. Read full review
75
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
Because Bar-Lev fails to go the extra mile either as a filmmaker or a friend, My Kid Could Paint That is at best "documentary silver." Read full review
75
Miami HeraldConnie Ogle
Documentary gold, and you will have formed an opinion on the controversy by the time you leave the theater. You may not know art, but you'll know what you like. Read full review
70
VarietyDennis Harvey
The popular human-interest story of a child prodigy becomes an engrossing meditation on truth, media exploitation and the value of art in My Kid Could Paint That. Read full review
70
Village VoiceNathan Lee
What began as a human-interest story for filmmaker Amir Bar-Lev led down stranger paths than the Duchampian conundrums of modern art. Read full review
63
New York PostKyle Smith
Struggles to maintain a sober, evenhanded tone about an utterly ridiculous story. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterJames Greenberg
The film and the controversy should generate interest at the boxoffice, but it's more a story about media manipulation and parental responsibility than art. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
The longer it goes, the more frustrating it becomes, as Bar Lev declines to come down on one side or the other. Read full review
50
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
Mr. Bar-Lev has made an excellent documentary, but it would have been better if he had not made it at all. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
My conclusion is that exploitation of a child for the sake of one's career is a shameful act. Read full review
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