Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck
  • Network: HBO
  • Series Premiere Date: May 4, 2015
Metascore
88

Universal acclaim - based on 7 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 7
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 7
  3. Negative: 0 out of 7

Critic Reviews

  1. RogerEbert.com
    Reviewed by: Brian Tallerico
    May 4, 2015
    100
    The filmmaking always crackles. Every song choice, every intimate home movie, every personal moment--they have been carefully chosen from eight years of research for maximum impact.
  2. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: David Wiegand
    May 4, 2015
    100
    [Montage of Heck is] shattering, unpredictable and tells you more about Cobain than any previous film.
  3. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: A.A. Dowd
    May 4, 2015
    91
    Montage understands Cobain as an icon, but also as the mixed-up kid who got too famous too fast, and it seems content revealing, rather than reconciling, his contradictions.
  5. Newsday
    Reviewed by: Verne Gay
    May 4, 2015
    91
    This is far more than a generous compilation but a two-hour fast-cut that attempts to reassemble a fractured mind from its own filings.
  6. Yahoo TV
    Reviewed by: Ken Tucker
    May 4, 2015
    80
    Anyone with an interest in music will want to see this portrait of the artist as a young man pursued by demons into the pit of heck.
  7. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Sarah Rodman
    May 4, 2015
    80
    Montage of Heck is dizzyingly impressionistic and dense with information: snippets of recordings Cobain made, interview excerpts, and images that, in some cases literally, animate his life story.
  8. Kansas City Star
    Reviewed by: Sara Smith
    May 4, 2015
    70
    Montage of Heck achieves its goal of intimacy almost too well. It’s such a tightly cropped portrait that criticizing it feels like criticizing Cobain. But it’s too long and a bit repetitive, and it keeps trying to explain its subject through his own scribblings long after his soul has been laid bare by more direct means.

Awards & Rankings

11
#11 Best TV Season of 2015

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
7.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 59 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 47 out of 59
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 59
  3. Negative: 7 out of 59
  1. TheZeroPercent
    May 5, 2015
    10
    This is an AMAZING doc, not only of Kurt, but just in general also. I know and have learned a lot about him over the last 20 years, and I wasThis is an AMAZING doc, not only of Kurt, but just in general also. I know and have learned a lot about him over the last 20 years, and I was REALLY pleasantly surprised at the rarity and uniqueness of the material. It reminded me a lot o Daniel Johnston's doc(which IMO I'd one of the best artist docs ever).

    Also, if the family or partners are reading this, you really should be proud of this doc's 'completeness'. I was a huge Nirvana fan as teen in the early 90's, but, apparently, I didn't even know who Kurt was. This doc really showed the human side of his genius, I had always only seen him as a god, idol, and genius. It was comforting to understand Kurt 'kept it real' ' so real', and not just some snobby fake Rockstar.    … Full Review »
  2. DakotaFred
    May 31, 2015
    5
    It is an interesting look inside the short life of KC... but with the horrible upbringing, heroin abuse and depression, ultimately leading toIt is an interesting look inside the short life of KC... but with the horrible upbringing, heroin abuse and depression, ultimately leading to his final days disappearing act and (apparent) suicide (apart from text at the very end completely left out), make it a mediocre watch at best. I mean, calling him a genius is a bit of stretch anyway IMO. Put anyone into a room with a pen paper guitar mic and tape recorder, oh and of course an endless supply of drugs, the results would most likely be similarly bizarre. Nonetheless, he wrote a few good songs (why Dave Grohl was also completely left out is a mystery to me). In the end, KC was a coward for killing himself. If he didnt kill himself, then they had even more reason to focus more on his final days and the investigation (or lack of) that followed. Maybe they are saving that little bit of information for part deux ;)… Full Review »
  3. frankrog29
    Jul 13, 2016
    4
    This movie offers some facts about Kurt Cobain's life but it certainly doesn't attempt to be an authoritative documentary on the subject.This movie offers some facts about Kurt Cobain's life but it certainly doesn't attempt to be an authoritative documentary on the subject. Instead, the movie attempts to convey the late Mr. Cobain's mental state with animated segments set to his music and spoken-word recordings. As a result, the film mostly feels like a 2-hour-long Nirvana music video, and it mostly just made me feel depressed. This movie is probably only for diehard Nirvana fans, and even some of them might find it too abstract and not sufficiently informative.… Full Review »
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