Phil Spector
HBO | Release Date: March 24, 2013
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
60
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 30 Critic Reviews
Positive:
16
Mixed:
11
Negative:
3

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
50
Slant MagazineJohn SemleyMar 21, 2013
Season 1 Review: Despite the more honest pleasures of something like You Don't Know Jack, Phil Spector's nominal entertainment value proceeds almost entirely from its status as an explosive camp object, buoyed by the promise of seeing Pacino yell his way through Mamet's dialogue as the eccentric record producer turned convicted murderer in an overstated wall of sound. Read full review
42
NewsdayVerne GayMar 21, 2013
Season 1 Review: A frustrating film that leaves the questions--pretty much all of them--unanswered. Read full review
40
Sioux City JournalBruce MillerMay 29, 2013
Season 1 Review: Both actors [Al Pacino and Helen Mirren] could thrive with this story (Pacino's a ringer for Spector) but Mamet speculates a bit too much. Had he eliminated the title character entirely, it might have been more intriguing. Read full review
40
SalonWilla PaskinMar 26, 2013
Season 1 Review: Phil Spector is missing dramatic tension. It’s staged as a movie but it’s constructed more like a play, with plenty of scenes of two people exchanging Mametian dialogue in claustrophobic spaces. Read full review
40
Zap2it (Inside the Box)Geoff BerkshireMar 26, 2013
Season 1 Review: While it's never as silly or artless as HBO's overpraised "Game Change," Spector is low-stakes, procedure-oriented and deliberately claustrophobic, lacking in the sort of sharply pointed dialogue one may expect from Mamet Read full review
40
TV Guide MagazineMatt RoushMar 22, 2013
Season 1 Review: Claustrophobic, stagey and muddled, the movie offers two memorable set pieces. Read full review
40
VarietyBrian LowryMar 22, 2013
Season 1 Review: Phil Spector is watchable, but given the lofty expectations raised by HBO movies, it’s also the cinematic equivalent of a bad hair day. Read full review
40
Washington PostHank StueverMar 22, 2013
Season 1 Review: Phil Spector is a wordy and unappealingly clinical character sketch. Read full review
40
Philadelphia Daily NewsEllen GrayMar 22, 2013
Season 1 Review: As good as the performances are and as fascinating it might be to see the inner workings of a celebrity trial where money was apparently no object, Phil Spector plays like a docudrama. Read full review
40
Boston GlobeMatthew GilbertMar 21, 2013
Season 1 Review: Everything aside from Pacino in this movie is surprisingly ordinary and lacking. Read full review
40
The New York TimesAlessandra StanleyMar 21, 2013
Season 1 Review: In Phil Spector the facts of the case and the characters are molded to allow viewers to doubt Mr. Spector’s guilt. But even with a Mamet screenplay and actors like Mr. Pacino and Ms. Mirren there is not much anyone can do to make the audience care. Read full review
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