George Harrison: Living in the Material World
HBO | Release Date: October 5, 2011
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
74
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 13 Critic Reviews
Positive:
10
Mixed:
3
Negative:
0

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
People WeeklyTom GliattoOct 4, 2011
Season 1 Review: Beautifully filmed, George Harrison: Living in the Material World is especially good on the singer-guitarist's post-Beatles life as he sought enlightenment in Eastern religions. [10 Oct 2011, p.40]
90
Los Angeles TimesRobert LloydOct 4, 2011
Season 1 Review: This may be the better work [than "No Direction Home"], for its depth of feeling and its relatively more forthcoming and knowable subject. Read full review
83
Uncle BarkyEd BarkOct 7, 2011
Season 1 Review: Living in the Material World falls short of Scorsese's terrific two-part PBS film, No Direction Home: Bob Dylan. Read full review
83
HitfixAlan SepinwallOct 5, 2011
Season 1 Review: The exhaustive nature of it, and the intimacy that Scorsese and his collaborators develop with both their subject and those who knew him, makes it into something more than a three-plus hour rehash of an oft-told tale. Read full review
80
The New York TimesMike HaleOct 4, 2011
Season 1 Review: An absorbing and beautifully made film in its own right, whose 208 minutes mostly fly by. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertOct 4, 2011
Season 1 Review: At 208 minutes, Scorsese has accomplished the best documentary that is probably possible. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleJoel SelvinOct 4, 2011
Season 1 Review: Composed of extraordinary source footage, most entirely unseen before, that combines newsreels, U.S. and British television shows, home movies and hundreds of rare photographs blended with the requisite talking-head interviews. Read full review
70
Miami HeraldGlenn GarvinOct 5, 2011
Season 1 Review: Martin Scorsese's affectionate, exhaustive two-part HBO documentary George Harrison: Living in the Material World. Harrison's easily mocked mysticism has rarely seemed as sincere and hard-won as it does in Scorsese's respectful, 3 1/2-hour profile. Read full review
70
Philadelphia Daily NewsEllen GrayOct 5, 2011
Season 1 Review: Living in the Material World finds plenty to say, though, particularly in the final two hours, when Olivia Harrison's honesty contributes mightily to Scorsese's portrait of an artist more interesting than some of us may have realized. Read full review
70
SalonMatt Zoller SeitzOct 5, 2011
Season 1 Review: Living in the Material World foregrounds [George Harrison's] qualities so pointedly that it seems to be channeling the personality of its subject. It's a problematic, at times off-putting, but ultimately fascinating work, moving through George's life with its own mysterious internal logic. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsDavid HinckleyOct 5, 2011
Season 1 Review: In contrast to Scorsese's other work, like his Bob Dylan documentary and "The Last Waltz," George Harrison feels like it doesn't get far below the surface. Read full review
60
Washington PostHank StueverOct 4, 2011
Season 1 Review: For its epic investment, Living in the Material World still feels like only part of the story. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineNick SchagerOct 17, 2011
Season 1 Review: That Living in the Material World shines scant illuminating light on Harrison's story is all the more frustrating for its immense length. Read full review
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