Thunder Soul
Roadside Attractions | Release Date: September 23, 2011 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
81
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 12 Critic Reviews
Positive:
11
Mixed:
1
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisSep 22, 2011
By introducing funky licks, fancy footwork and many of his own compositions to the band's stodgy set list of jazz standards, this indomitable leader (whose declining health adds a poignant twang to the film's final scenes) instilled racial pride alongside musical competency. Read full review
89
Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenSep 29, 2011
Music has rarely appeared more essential to the human drama. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubNathan RabinSep 28, 2011
Everything here is pitched relentlessly toward uplift, but at least that uplift is genuine, the product of one visionary's indomitable will and a musical universe he brought into existence through vision, dedication, and plenty of stubborn hard work. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesSheri LindenOct 6, 2011
Though it sometimes overplays the sentimentality, Thunder Soul gets not just the music but also the sense of possibility for this post-civil-rights generation. Read full review
80
Chicago ReaderJ.R. JonesOct 6, 2011
A precious scrap of American history. Read full review
80
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierSep 23, 2011
Warm memories of one school under a groove and a moving ending that no screenwriter could improve upon. Read full review
80
VarietyJoe LeydonSep 17, 2011
Mark Landsman's spirited Thunder Soul offers a heaping helping of uplift while documenting the past triumphs and recent reunion of a predominantly black Houston high school's singularly accomplished jazz stage band. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterKirk HoneycuttSep 17, 2011
A greater argument for music education in our secondary school curriculum can't be made than Mark Landsman's doc about a Texas high school funk band that tore up the music scene from 1968 to 1977. Read full review
75
Orlando SentinelRoger MooreSep 24, 2011
One serious omission in the film - identifying what these seemingly prosperous alumni of the band do for a living and did with their lives. Read full review
70
Village VoiceMelissa AndersonSep 20, 2011
Sometimes you just can't fight the funk; as much as you might resist the film's more maudlin scenes, not succumbing to the band's signature tune, "Head Wiggle," is impossible. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineJesse CataldoSep 19, 2011
Forcefully traditional and sentimental, Thunder Soul benefits most from the cinematic turn of the actual events it documents, which allowed the beloved teacher's life to end on a perfectly bittersweet note. Read full review
60
Time OutEric HynesSep 20, 2011
Amid its celebrations of black power, ambitious Afros and fly female trombonists, the film serves as a rousing testament to the singular blessings of music education, since there's nothing inherent or automatic about kids learning how to groove. Read full review
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