Salesman
Maysles Films | Release Date: April 17, 1969 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
80
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 13 Critic Reviews
Positive:
12
Mixed:
1
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Village VoiceAlan Scherstuhl
A vérité masterpiece of the bulls**t that America sells itself, Albert and David Maysles’ Salesman, from 1968, documents a way of life that was dying even then — the soiling grind of getting by as a door-to-door salesman, talking people who don’t want you there into buying junk they don’t need with money they’re almost certainly short on. Read full review
100
EmpireDavid Parkinson
An uncompromising documentary which simply lays its subject bare and dares us not be moved by the raw humanity on display. Read full review
91
The A.V. ClubNathan Rabin
More than 30 years removed from its theatrical release, Salesman looks less like the story of four traveling salesmen than the story of America itself. Read full review
90
The New York TimesVincent Canby
It’s such a fine, pure picture of a small section of American life that I can’t imagine its ever seeming irrelevant, either as a social document or as one of the best examples of what’s called cinema verite or direct cinema. Read full review
88
Chicago ReaderDon Druker
Beautifully edited by Charlotte Zwerin, this film is required viewing for anyone concerned with documentary. Read full review
80
The GuardianAndrew Pulver
If you want a genuinely Millerian cinematic experience, the best way to go is to get hold of Salesman, a 1968 documentary made by Albert and David Maysles, along with Charlotte Zwerin.  Read full review
80
The New YorkerRichard Brody
The filmmakers, despite their rueful gaze, inspire empathy for all parties to this miserable commerce. Read full review
80
TV Guide MagazineStaff (Not Credited)
A subtler and less bombastic companion piece to Arthur Miller's most famous play, Salesman is an exemplar of nonfictional material shaped and illuminated by sophisticated filmmakers who have absorbed the devices of fictional storytelling. Read full review
80
Time OutStaff (Not Credited)
A landmark American documentary, Salesman captures in vivid detail the bygone era of the door-to-door salesman. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineChuck Bowen
An immersive drama that bridges real-life details with the catharses of parables with expressionistic on-the-fly camerawork, a blend of the textural and the poetic that’s hallucinatory and profound. Read full review
75
The Seattle TimesMark Rahner
You'll never see a more depressing tale than Salesman. Glengarry Glen Ross has nothing on this 1968 documentary about sad-sack door-to-door Bible salesmen by the Maysles brothers. [07 Sep 2001]
75
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
Celebrated cinema verite chronicle of a quartet of door-to-door bible salesman, pitching their wares with slick expertise or threadbare urgency. [03 Dec 1999, p.L]
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