The Grace Lee Project
Women Make Movies | Release Date: December 14, 2005 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
63
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 12 Critic Reviews
Positive:
9
Mixed:
2
Negative:
1

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
Through what sounds like a project of unpromisingly limited scope, Lee manages to touch on a surprisingly wide range of subjects, from cultural identity, familial expectations, community responsibility and, above all, self-definition. Read full review
75
New York PostV.A. Musetto
Luckily for us, Grace Lee recorded everything in the fun documentary The Grace Lee Project. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
A funny and insightful exploration into identity issues we all can recognize. Read full review
70
Film ThreatEric Campos
This interesting and humorous ride brings a wild variety of Grace Lees, to Grace’s delight and our amusement, providing an informative and heartfelt look, more personal than academic, of a culture and the single bond they all share. Read full review
70
VarietyDennis Harvey
Trivial-sounding hook manages to float a funny but complex meditation on identity, ethnicity and cultural expectations that should be as accessible to teens as adults. Read full review
70
Village VoiceDennis Lim
A breezy first-person video essay that goes in search of the average Asian American woman, all the while wondering if there is in fact such a thing. Read full review
70
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
Niftily shot and edited, The Grace Lee Project isn't just a witty unpacking of stereotype. It's also a welcome freshening of the old documentary saw that there's no such thing as an ordinary person. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesJohn Anderson
What she finds is good for her and good for us -- a journey of realization for anyone who's ever felt lost in the crowd. Read full review
67
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
There are flashes here of a more involving movie, but, as if living up to the cliches associated with her name, filmmaker Lee is content to sit quietly and let others talk. Read full review
60
The New York TimesStephen Holden
Although The Grace Lee Project is ostensibly about a name, it's really about cultural assimilation and a stereotype of virtue and subservience that has deep roots on both sides of the Pacific. As oppressive as her name may be, Ms. Lee also knows full well that there are worse fates than being a 16-year-old Harvard freshman. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterFrank Scheck
Its observations seem more suited to the op-ed pages of a magazine than the big screen. Read full review
30
The A.V. ClubNoel Murray
She acts amazed by her own work, in hopes that we'll be too. To help the matter along, Lee underscores the action with a Mickey Mouse score, cutesy animation, and a relentlessly chipper tone. Her technique is pretty much everything that's wrong with documentary filmmaking today. Read full review
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