Only the Strong Survive

Name: Only the Strong Survive
Genre: Music, Documentary
Released: May 9, 2003
Duration: 95 min
Rating: 59
Cast: Isaac Hayes, Mary Wilson, Sam Moore, Wilson Pickett

2003

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Mixed or average reviews based on 21 Critic Reviews

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Generally unfavorable reviews based on 5 Ratings

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Movie Details & Credits

Miramax Films | Release Date: May 9, 2003 | PG-13

Starring: Isaac Hayes, Mary Wilson, Sam Moore, Wilson Pickett

Summary: Documentary filmmakers DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus catch up with the great soul singers of the 1960s and early 1970s. The result is a musical celebration of soul, a glimpse into the skewed world of the music industry, and a compelling narrative of these seven talented acts. (Miramax)

Director: Chris Hegedus and D.A. Pennebaker

Genre(s): Music, Documentary

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 95 min

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Critic Reviews

Peter Travers

One for the time capsule. Read full review

Owen Gleiberman

One of the happiest movies around. Read full review

Kevin Thomas

It emphasizes its stars' capacity to endure as individuals and entertainers and does not dwell on the harder times and personal travails they survived. However, it acknowledges the well-known exploitation black artists have traditionally experienced in the pop music industry. Read full review

Shawn Levy

Agreeable and warm, is content for the most part merely to allude to complexity and darkness in the lives of its subjects. Read full review

Lou Lumenick

Captures some remarkably vivid present-day performances by the aging performers. Read full review

Keith Phipps

But while Only The Strong Survive is essential viewing for soul fans, as a documentary it never makes the needed connections among the artists, their music, and the lives they lead. Read full review

Charles Taylor

All Only the Strong Survive has to offer are scraps, and it's a sad thing to sit through a movie billed as a tribute to a group of terrific performers and to come away with nothing more than scraps. Read full review

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User Reviews

MichelleM.

May 6, 2006

Several great performances: : Jerry Butler, Wilson Pickett, Ann Peebles, Mary Wilson, stitched together with chatter and disconnected vignettes. Lack of depth in portraying the soul of the performers or of the culture in which they thrived. Much less compelling or evocative than Standing In Several great performances: : Jerry Butler, Wilson Pickett, Ann Peebles, Mary Wilson, stitched together with chatter and disconnected vignettes. Lack of depth in portraying the soul of the performers or of the culture in which they thrived. Much less compelling or evocative than Standing In the Shadows of Motown.… Expand

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