The Crash Reel
Phase 4 Films | Release Date: July 5, 2013 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
79
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 15 Critic Reviews
Positive:
14
Mixed:
1
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
RogerEbert.comMarsha McCreadieDec 13, 2013
It’s thrilling for even a novice fan to watch Pearce. Read full review
91
The PlaylistKimber MyersDec 11, 2013
The Crash Reel can never be accused of being dry or boring, but Walker brings an energetic style that also complements its subject. Read full review
90
The New York TimesNeil GenzlingerAug 14, 2013
An engrossing, unsettling documentary. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubJohn TetiDec 11, 2013
The film also applies a deft touch as it addresses the morality of violent sports, like snowboarding and football, that entertain the many who watch while endangering the few who play. Rather than cast the athletes as pure victims, Walker acknowledges their agency, depicting them as prideful competitors who choose to risk their well-being — or even insist on doing so, as Pearce does. Read full review
80
The DissolveAndrew LapinDec 9, 2013
Walker edits with an eye for poeticism, and at times her choices are unbearably painful. Read full review
80
Time Out LondonTrevor JohnstonOct 1, 2013
Don’t be put off by the jock-ish ‘extreme sports’ subject matter, this is an insightful, deeply affecting journey of emotional discovery beyond the thrill of speed and the roar of the crowd. Read full review
80
New York Daily NewsDavid HinckleyAug 14, 2013
What complicates and deepens Crash Reel, though, is that Walker doesn’t simply wag her finger like Mom telling you not to run with scissors. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleJul 4, 2013
The Crash Reel asks pointed questions about hazard, reward and consequence, forcing us to look anew at the rush attached to so many high-stakes sports. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterJustin LoweJul 4, 2013
With a keen sense of the thrills of snowboarding, a cultivated understanding of the demands of the pro circuit and genuine compassion for the casualties of the sport, Walker’s particular talent in this film is in making the general more specific. Read full review
80
VarietyRob NelsonJul 4, 2013
By turns pulse-quickening and contemplative, The Crash Reel is a thoroughly winning docu portrait of former pro snowboarder Kevin Pearce. Read full review
80
The GuardianHenry BarnesJul 4, 2013
A crash reel – a greatest hits of a boarder's most dramatic falls – is meant to entertain. But Walker takes the cheap thrills of the format and flips it painfully on its head. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Adam NaymanDec 12, 2013
The hook of The Crash Reel is that it’s about the rivalry between two famous American snowboarders, but in reality, Lucy Walker’s slickly produced documentary is about one man’s ongoing battle with himself – on and off the slopes. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineChuck BowenDec 9, 2013
It compellingly captures a family wrestling mightily with the riddles and contradictions of a culture that promotes achievement at all costs with little thought as to what that actually means. Read full review
70
Village VoiceInkoo KangDec 10, 2013
Walker never has Pearce explain why he wants to return the lifts, and he never has to. The heights speak for themselves. Read full review
40
Time OutSam AdamsDec 10, 2013
With its high-energy music and graffiti-style graphics, The Crash Reel plays like the slick promos NBC uses to repackage every Olympian’s story into a pat narrative. Read full review
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