The Swell Season
Seventh Art Releasing | Release Date: April 22, 2011 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
65
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 15 Critic Reviews
Positive:
8
Mixed:
7
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisFeb 13, 2012
What emerges is a poignant commentary on the uneasy commingling of love and fame. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesBetsy SharkeyFeb 13, 2012
The Swell Season emerges as an incisive cut at fame's effect on the real-life music and romance of Hansard and Irglova. It's an accomplished piece of filmmaking from the trio, who are making their feature-length documentary debut. Read full review
75
MovielineAlison WillmoreFeb 13, 2012
It's an eloquent summation of the complexities and strength of their bond, and a poetic cap to the pair's fictional and real ups and downs over two films. Read full review
75
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottFeb 13, 2012
It's sadly and tenderly honest -- and so are Hansard and Irglova, as they generously and matter-of-factly open up to the camera. Read full review
75
New York PostKyle SmithFeb 13, 2012
Like "Once," this film is a tender little piece of heartbreak. Read full review
75
Washington PostAnn HornadayFeb 13, 2012
Most vividly, The Swell Season captures the insistent, borderline-disturbing energy of fandom at its most rabid and psychically intrusive. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Guy DixonFeb 13, 2012
The question subtly, craftily documented in The Swell Season is whether the fans or Hansard himself want to see the singer cast in this new role of success. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeFeb 13, 2012
Does right by both fans and subjects. Read full review
60
Time OutJoshua RothkopfFeb 13, 2012
The movie looks beautiful, its sublime b&w cinematography signaling a fading dream. And there are touching moments here that you rarely see in docs about professional musicians or celebrities in general. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierFeb 13, 2012
As shown in this disarming and intimate documentary named after their band, the oddness of actually being sought-after was something neither was prepared for. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubTasha RobinsonFeb 13, 2012
It's too focused on capturing a bygone moment and portraying it as the present, while the band and the couple have inevitably moved on, to a new album, a high-profile suicide at one of their concerts, a band hiatus, and well beyond. Read full review
50
Village VoiceKarina LongworthFeb 13, 2012
To viewers without a preexisting emotional relationship to the couple and their saga, that everyday angst is just banal. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleWalter AddiegoFeb 13, 2012
There are some compelling performance moments, and it's sad to watch these talented and basically nice people drift apart. But overall the film seems like a collection of bits and pieces, and it's hard to see how it could have much resonance for non-fans. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineNick SchagerFeb 13, 2012
Ultimately, though, they never cohere into something more than a moderately engaging for-fans-only tour diary. Read full review
50
VarietyRonnie ScheibFeb 13, 2012
Swell never really gathers momentum, remaining a collection of moments, some more privileged than others. Read full review
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