Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band
Magnolia Pictures | Release Date: February 21, 2020 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
61
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 18 Critic Reviews
Positive:
11
Mixed:
7
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Movie NationRoger MooreJan 20, 2020
All music documentaries are subjective in that they’re the most engrossing to those the most into the music. But for the right fan, Roher’s lovely leafing through musical history will be touching and at times thrilling. Read full review
75
Washington PostAnn HornadayFeb 25, 2020
Once Were Brothers is enormously valuable, if only as a reminder of what an extraordinary run this extraordinary convergence of talents enjoyed until their final show on Thanksgiving Day in 1976 (meticulously captured by Scorsese in the magnificent documentary “The Last Waltz”). Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comGlenn KennyFeb 21, 2020
These amiable fellow don’t understand young Robbie’s ambitions — what’s with the rock ’n’ roll and all? — until they put it together and exclaim: “You want to be in SHOW BUSINESS.” For all the grand achievements chronicled here — and the music still sounds pretty great — this still is a show business venture. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranFeb 20, 2020
It is a measure of the singularity of the Band’s story, and the way their music remains such a tonic to experience, that “Brothers” still demands to be seen. Read full review
70
The New York TimesBen KenigsbergFeb 20, 2020
You can’t beat the access or the clips, although the absence of Hudson (whom Roher apparently filmed) from the present-day interviews is peculiar. His voice might have provided a valuable counterpoint to Robertson’s recollections. Read full review
70
TheWrapSteve PondSep 6, 2019
It’s a solid chronicle of (the first part of) a fascinating life and career. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterMichael RechtshaffenSep 6, 2019
Although, structurally speaking, the production follows a safely familiar path, it doesn’t require a lot of fancy footwork when you’ve got an enthusiastic on-camera fan base including Bruce Springsteen, Scorsese, Eric Clapton, Taj Mahal and Van Morrison, a terrific storytelling arc, a treasure trove of archival footage and, naturally, those iconic songs. Read full review
70
VarietyChris WillmanSep 6, 2019
The film picks up more general interest once it moves past the early nobility of the outfit as a band of brothers into the things that cripple the least greatest of groups ... Robertson [is] an articulate and ingratiating tour guide through all this glorious and eventually tortured history. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenMar 4, 2020
In most ways, the film is a conventional rock doc, a nostalgic and valorizing chronicle of a group’s rise and fall. The Band is one group that deserves the deep dive. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeMark FeeneyFeb 28, 2020
Robertson’s ex-wife, Dominique. Her thoughtful presence is a very welcome departure from the standard rock-doc formula. She provides the kind of reality check — an under-the-influence Manuel almost got her killed when he totaled her Mustang, with her in the passenger seat — rarely found in such films. In that sense, it isn’t just the Band that was different but “Once Were Brothers” is, too. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineChuck BowenFeb 17, 2020
Robertson’s sense of having witnessed friends and collaborators get washed away by bitterness and addiction was more fulsomely evoked by The Last Waltz. Read full review
60
The GuardianLeslie FelperinSep 8, 2020
As in Scorsese’s rock docs, there are reams of archive footage and rare snapshots to swoon over (Dylan’s striped trousers from 1967 never get old), all seamlessly edited together by Roher and Eamonn O’Connor. Read full review
60
Rolling StoneDavid FearFeb 21, 2020
Make no mistake: This is really one man’s look back in anger, sorrow, joy and sentimentality. “Robbie Robertson on the Band” would be a more accurate description. Read full review
60
Screen DailyTim GriersonSep 6, 2019
This conventional rock-doc is light on new insights — and its focus on Robertson’s viewpoint short-changes his former bandmates in this often-contentious group — but it tells its story with considerable affection. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleJoel SelvinFeb 26, 2020
Survivors get to tell the history, but Robbie Robertson is pushing it. The guitarist does not come off as a wholly reliable narrator in his cinematic account of the illustrious career of the Band, Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and the Band. Read full review
50
SlateJack HamiltonFeb 20, 2020
Once Were Brothers could have been a peacemaking gesture, a magnanimous work of reflection and tribute that would gather Robertson some belated goodwill, and the film’s first half makes some moves in that direction. But damned if that hatchet just won’t stay buried. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Brad WheelerSep 10, 2019
The Robertson-authorized Once Were Brothers is an account of The Band’s rise and fall, as remembered by the titular guitarist, chief songwriter and excellent raconteur. Read full review
42
IndieWireKate ErblandSep 6, 2019
Robertson, a deeply talented musician and songwriter who is still working today, is a fascinating subject, but the really compelling stuff is lingering just out of the frame. Without a more well-rounded selection of voices ... or a more critical-minded director to give the film perspective, Robertson is free to obscure the bigger questions and deeper meanings, opting for self-mythologizing over self-reflection. Read full review
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