Billy Joel: And So It Goes
HBO | Release Date: July 18, 2025
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
72
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 9 Critic Reviews
Positive:
7
Mixed:
2
Negative:
0

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
NewsdayRafer GuzmánJul 16, 2025
Season 1 Review: Lacy isn’t overselling her project. "And So It Goes," named for one of Joel's more ruminative songs, may not contain any true bombshells but it delves into Joel’s life in unprecedented detail. Anchored by Lacy’s lengthy interviews with Joel. .... Virtually everyone from Joel’s life — even those carrying painful baggage — shows up to speak. Read full review
83
IndieWireChristian BlauveltJul 18, 2025
Season 1 Review: “And So It Goes” isn’t flashy. It’s not trying to shake up what music documentaries can be. But like its subject, it isn’t about surfaces. Both Joel and the makers of “And So It Goes” understand that when you look beyond the surface, you can glimpse the soul. Read full review
80
Screen RantHannah GearanAug 29, 2025
Season 1 Review: This is not the sterilized image of Joel that many are used to, but it is better for it. The series maintains its strength for the nearly five-hour runtime, leaving me wishing only that it were longer. Read full review
80
DeciderJohnny Loftus Jul 21, 2025
Season 1 Review: There’s so much detail here that even “Piano Man” – which is easily one of the most overexposed, wrung-dry songs on the planet – sounds new again. That’s a real feat for a doc, and proof that the giant-sized run-time of So It Goes is more than warranted. Read full review
80
Rolling StoneDavid BrowneJul 18, 2025
Season 1 Review: For all its infomercial moments, including a few too many testimonials and scenes of cheering fans in concert halls, And So It Goes also has moments of startling candor rare for the current state of authorized music docs. Read full review
80
VarietyOwen GleibermanJun 26, 2025
Season 1 Review: I can’t render a definitive judgment on “Billy Joel: And So It Goes,” because I haven’t seen Part 2. There are moments when Part 1 does grow a bit repetitive (I wish the film weren’t so doggedly chronological). Yet a day after I saw it, it has stayed with me. Read full review
70
The Daily BeastJesse HassengerJul 18, 2025
Season 1 Review: Even if it ultimately lets him off the hook, though, And So It Goes gives its subject his due. Read full review
50
Wall Street JournalJohn AndersonJul 18, 2025
Season 1 Review: A documentary portrait of a superstar artist and his surprisingly routine story. Tightly constructed it is not. Good natured it is, though, even while being worshipful to the point of parody. Read full review
40
SlateJack HamiltonJul 18, 2025
Season 1 Review: And So It Goes is a disappointingly underwhelming music documentary. Clocking in at nearly five hours, it’s both indefensibly long and exasperatingly short on formal inventiveness. Read full review
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