The Kid Stays in the Picture
Focus Features | Release Date: July 26, 2002 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
75
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 31 Critic Reviews
Positive:
27
Mixed:
3
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
A candy store for film buffs. Read full review
100
Rolling StonePeter Travers
This stuff is golden. Directors Brett Morgan and Nanette Burstein make sure the movie goes down like potato chips. It's great fun and compulsively watchable. And don't leave before Dustin Hoffman makes a hilarious appearance as the credits roll. Read full review
100
Film ThreatRon Wells
I've already seen at least 20 documentaries this year. They've left me amused, sad, informed, bored, pissed-off, whatever. I'm willing to bet, though, that I don't see another this year as richly entertaining or as cathartic as The Kid Stays in the Picture. Is it really that good? You better believe it. Read full review
100
Boston GlobeTy Burr
Implicitly acknowledges and celebrates the glorious chicanery and self-delusion of this most American of businesses, and for that reason it may be the most oddly honest Hollywood document of all. Read full review
100
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Has to be one of the must-see films for any student of Hollywood fame and infamy. Read full review
91
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
An imaginative self-profile of producer Robert Evans, could well be the most totally irresistible movie of the summer. Read full review
90
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
One of the funniest, and most telling, films of the year. The filmmakers call "Kid" a documentary, but the movie is one of the unusual kind that is firmly lodged inside the subject's perspective. Read full review
90
SlateDavid Edelstein
A breezy hoot, and it's gorgeous to look at. Read full review
90
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
A smart, funny and strangely touching film.
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
A new documentary about the life of this producer who put together one of the most remarkable winning streaks in Hollywood history, and followed it with a losing streak that almost destroyed him. It's one of the most honest films ever made about Hollywood. Read full review
88
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
Evans makes a terrific raconteur, imitating voices and putting us behind the scenes. Read full review
80
SalonStephanie Zacharek
Is legendary Hollywood producer Robert Evans feeding us a load of crap in this documentary? When it's this much fun, who really cares? Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
A witty, colorful and poignant account of the life and times of producer Robert Evans. Read full review
80
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
Evans has as distinctive an American voice as Mark Twain or Vin Scully, and the directors wisely let him do the talking. Read full review
80
VarietyTodd McCarthy
Opulently produced, fittingly enough, and quite entertaining as a surface ride through the up, down and somewhat up again life of one of the New Hollywood's most colorful characters. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
Robert Evans has been variously described as the Hugh Hefner of Hollywood, a Tinseltown Gatsby, the Lancelot of the backlot. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
Occasionally feels a bit suffocating, like being trapped at a party by a drunkard who won't shut up until he tells you his entire life story. Read full review
75
New York PostMegan Lehmann
A compelling portrait of a matchless man, who's still going strong at 72. Read full review
75
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
Fantasy, not honesty, is the point of The Kid Stays in the Picture. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Fascinating. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Ray Conlogue
The best thing the film does is to show us not only what that mind looks like, but how the creative process itself operates: messily, erratically, outside of most people's morality, but with a force and purposiveness that makes the machinations of the rest of us look irresolute by comparison. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
If you ever suspected that assholes are running the world, this documentary adapting producer and former actor Robert Evans's autobiography, narrated with relish by Evans himself--the cinematic equivalent of a Vanity Fair article, complete with tuxes and swimming pools--offers all the confirmation you'll ever need. Read full review
70
New Times (L.A.)Robert Wilonsky
It's either the world's greatest infomercial for fame (and its omnipresent companion, notoriety) or the saddest eulogy of all. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)Peter Rainer
Evans, in effect, is the real producer here, and the film, which mostly consists of artfully blended archival footage, comes across like a last will and testament. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
This is classic Hollywood, at its best and worst, sticky rich and scabrous. It may not be the truth, per se, but it sure sounds good. Read full review
63
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
The best part is during the closing credits. Dustin Hoffman does a brilliant, dead-on impression of Evans that captures the essence of the man more than all the self-serving grandiosity that preceded it. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
If Hollywood is really a dream factory, then it's the movie moguls and movie stars who live that dream to the hilt. In the late 1970s few lived quite as large as Robert Evans. Read full review
60
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
The result is a snazzy kick -- it's never less than hugely entertaining -- that should in no way be mistaken for an unbiased account. But then, Evans is the quintessential Hollywood character. Read full review
50
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
The overall effect is too self-worshipping to be of lasting interest. The guy sure isn't shy! Read full review
40
L.A. WeeklyDavid Chute
Evans is a fascinating character, and deserves a better vehicle than this facetious smirk of a movie. Read full review
10
Village VoiceMichael Atkinson
The movie's only discernible purpose is as publicity for the book. An admitted egomaniac, Evans is no Hollywood villain, and yet this grating showcase almost makes you wish he'd gone the way of Don Simpson. Instead, he'll probably get an Irving Thalberg award. Read full review
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