Tim's Vermeer
Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: December 6, 2013 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
76
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 32 Critic Reviews
Positive:
27
Mixed:
5
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanJan 8, 2014
An exquisitely fun documentary. Read full review
95
NPRBob MondelloDec 6, 2013
As with Six by Sondheim, Tim's Vermeer works at capturing on film how artists work their miracles. And it will have you, long after the credits fade, puzzling out questions of invention, creativity, science, talent, painstaking craft, and the magic that comes of putting all that together. Read full review
91
Portland OregonianMarc MohanFeb 13, 2014
The result is both a captivating history lesson and a tense intellectual thriller that dares to ask big questions about creativity and technology. Read full review
91
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerDec 5, 2013
What Tim’s Vermeer is really about is two geniuses, of very different sorts, communing across time and space. Read full review
90
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzFeb 27, 2014
It’s fascinating and funny while forcing us to consider the line between technology and art. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesBetsy SharkeyDec 12, 2013
Like art itself, words can't fully capture what it is like to see the Vermeer emerge under Jenison's brush. Or to see Jenison's obsession with the idea run its course. Read full review
90
VarietyPeter DebrugeNov 5, 2013
The result is just about the most fun you can have while learning, partly because it strips away any tangents beyond the task at hand, offering a lean, 80-minute account of how this crazy guy erected his own Everest and then proceeded to climb it. Read full review
88
Boston GlobeTy BurrFeb 20, 2014
The deeper Tim’s Vermeer takes you, the peskier and more profound the questions get. Read full review
88
RogerEbert.comGlenn KennyJan 31, 2014
The movie is straightforward, brisk, engaging, and sometimes even moving. One might entire feeling wary that the movie, in depicting an attempt to duplicate Vermeer's achievement, might also glibly undercut it; but that's not the point at all. Rather, Tim's Vermeer wants to expand the audience's understanding of what the actual practice of art is. Read full review
88
Rolling StonePeter TraversJan 31, 2014
A stimulating detective story that holds you in thrall. Read full review
88
USA TodayClaudia PuigJan 30, 2014
This thought-provoking documentary addresses the origins of Vermeer's photo-realistic art with all the suspense of a thriller. Read full review
88
Film.comWilliam GossNov 5, 2013
Teller manages a careful enough balance between painstaking technique and a larger cultural context over 80 brisk minutes to make even minor revelations feel like major moments. Read full review
83
IndieWireEric KohnNov 5, 2013
Teller's rough, uncomplicated filmmaking style does little to elaborate on Jenison's story, as the subject's unending curiosity singlehandedly carries each scene. Read full review
80
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternJan 30, 2014
The most intriguing question it raises is whether our feelings about Vermeer may be changed by the likelihood of him having used optics of one sort or another. The answer is yes, unavoidably, but not necessarily for the worse. Read full review
80
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriDec 6, 2013
Tim’s Vermeer starts off in a playful fashion, but as he soldiers on, our intrepid, mild-mannered technologist finds himself getting emotional. In the presence of art, something happens. By the time it’s over, don’t be surprised if you’re more in awe of the work of an artist than ever before. Maybe this is Penn and Teller’s final, subtle rug-pulling moment: An attempt to demystify the artistic process ends up posing even greater mysteries. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyNov 5, 2013
The connection between art and technology is explored in an entertaining and accessible way in Tim's Vermeer, a documentary that demonstrates how a savvy and dedicated amateur with sufficient resources was able to create a remarkable likeness of a great 17th century painting. Read full review
75
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsMar 6, 2014
Jenison, who had never painted a thing in his life, does indeed produce a beautiful work, but we should never forget that Penn and Teller are professional bamboozlers, and their attempt to re-frame the definition of genius might be nothing but smoke and mirrors. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)James AdamsFeb 20, 2014
Johannes Vermeer is still a genius at documentary’s end but a fathomable genius, as much scientist as artist, a driven, resourceful creator whose conceptual and compositional brilliance remains undiminished by whatever techniques Jenison, Hockney and crew ascribe to him. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperFeb 13, 2014
While Penn and Teller certainly know how to tell a story, Tim’s Vermeer is at times a chore to sit through, even with a brisk 80-minute running time. We’re literally watching paint dry. Read full review
75
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanFeb 13, 2014
Tim’s Vermeer makes a convincing case that Vermeer could have painted the way Jenison says he did. It also makes a pretty powerful ancillary point: that some people are both geniuses and geeks. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsFeb 13, 2014
It's an odd film, ultimately rewarding, because it's about an odd venture. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineBill WeberDec 19, 2013
It chronicles the quest of a self-described "geek," and there are pleasurable frissons of discovery in the detective work. Read full review
75
New York PostLou LumenickDec 6, 2013
Highly entertaining documentary. Read full review
70
The DissolveNoel MurrayJan 29, 2014
Tim’s Vermeer is more of an engineering lecture. And while it’s edifying in and of itself, it’s almost more fascinating because of the reasons it never transforms into anything else. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarc SavlovMar 19, 2014
With its brief running time and revelatory story, this neat, fascinating documentary ought to be required viewing for art history students everywhere. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubBen KenigsbergDec 4, 2013
This is all fascinating for art-history buffs, and while a documentary is the ideal vehicle for illustrating Jenison’s process, Tim’s Vermeer plays more like an extended PBS special than it does a movie. Read full review
63
McClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreJan 27, 2014
A fascinating documentary experiment in fathoming the heretofor “unfathomable” genius of Johannes Vermeer. Read full review
60
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottMar 14, 2014
An entertaining and interesting film, and one that speaks with a reasonable degree of credibility. And while that might not make it high art, it's good enough for me. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierDec 5, 2013
The result is cool and semi-comical, but also serious. Read full review
60
Time OutEric HynesDec 3, 2013
The film ultimately plays less like an experiment than a demonstration of a tinkerer’s ingenuity. Tim’s finished Vermeer may resemble the real thing, but Tim’s Vermeer never tackles the true mystery of why the latter is actually incomparable. Read full review
50
Village VoiceStephanie ZacharekDec 3, 2013
Penn and Teller are bright guys, and their act can be fun in small doses. Yet Tim's Vermeer accentuates one of their worst impulses: They think they're mischievously raining on our parades when, really, they're not telling us much at all. Read full review
40
The New York TimesManohla DargisJan 31, 2014
Shooting in unattractive, hard-edge digital, Teller condenses Mr. Jenison’s years-long pursuit into 80 glib, alternately diverting, exasperating and tedious minutes. Read full review
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