Protagonist
IFC Films | Release Date: November 30, 2007 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
68
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 16 Critic Reviews
Positive:
14
Mixed:
0
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
Wu is able to demonstrate both the timelessness and the universality of stories which, on the surface, sound extreme and unique. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
If all this sounds awfully classroom-bound, it isn't -- far from it. Each man's story as he tells it is riveting, truly stranger than fiction, and awesome, too, in the way of unfathomable humans. Read full review
80
Film ThreatJeremy Mathews
The film becomes at once an argument for the accuracy of fictional conventions and for the power of true, personal experiences. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterSheri Linden
Although it takes a while for Yu's thesis to jell, the film makes a lasting impression as it delves into an unfashionable territory: character as fate rather than a function of pharmaceuticals. Read full review
80
VarietyJohn Anderson
The dangers of extremism and the virtues of uncertainty are the keys to the remarkable Protagonist, docu helmer Jessica Yu's exploration of four men's journey through dysfunction, obsession and redemption. Read full review
80
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
A highly original and at times thrilling use of the documentary medium, and one of the most revealing films about the troubled nature of contemporary manhood I've ever seen. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesCarina Chocano
Yu's film may be challenging to synopsize, but it's thoroughly engrossing and wildly surprising. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
Amazingly, no one seems steeped in the salubrious self-explication of therapy. They just sound like very good storytellers. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleWalter Addiego
At first, the technique seems gimmicky, but finally it's as compelling a perspective as any to understand how these men passed through agony to some sort of peace. Read full review
70
Village VoiceAaron Hillis
Yu's rousing, difficult-to-classify exercise in parallel storytelling is surprisingly accessible, and all the more insightful for it. Read full review
70
The New York TimesStephen Holden
Jessica Yu’s enthralling documentary exploration of people with obsessive needs for control and self-mastery. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubNoel Murray
Offers four fairly interesting monologues, undercut by ominous music, stylistic frippery, and a structure that all but guarantees the audience will be able to predict where the stories will go. Read full review
63
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
While Yu's experimental approach brings valuable insight to the human condition, the interviews themselves too rarely measure up to her ambitious structure. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
All four stories are worthwhile, though together they’re an awful lot for one modest doc to cover. Yu’s integration of cinematic and theatrical elements is uneven, and a bit stiff. Read full review
30
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
Pretentious and overconceived, the movie purports to celebrate self-determination yet squashes it at every turn. Read full review
25
New York PostV.A. Musetto
Unfortunately, it doesn't work. None of the talking heads is as interesting as Yu thinks they are; and it's difficult to build sympathy for any of them. Read full review
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