- Network: HBO
- Series Premiere Date: Apr 5, 2015
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Critic Reviews
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Sinatra: All or Nothing at All is a fascinating look at a man who wielded a lot power--obviously too much--but whose artistic legacy thankfully will prevail over his baser interests.
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While Sinatra die-hards may find all this too familiar, there are still intriguing revelations throughout.
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All or Nothing at All draws from hours of Sinatra interviews and performances, as well as others' reminiscences, for a piece that's particularly effective in showing the singer as a young striver from New Jersey.
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With impressive clips and first-rate commentators like Hamill, Jonathan Schwartz, Terry Teachout and John Lahr, Gibney has explained why, like him or not, Sinatra mattered so much.
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The first hour rather dutifully runs through Sinatra’s early biography, before becoming a star singing with Tommy Dorsey’s band and then acrimoniously splitting from him. The project really takes off, not surprisingly, when it moves on to Sinatra at the height of his powers.
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All Or Nothing At All is imperfect, but it makes a riveting effort at capturing its subject’s complex and complicated personality.
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Gibney is as successful as anyone in getting beneath Sinatra’s carefully curated surface, but only so far.
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Like all authorized biographies, it does tend to plead its subject's case, and though it is not by any means a scrubbed version of the life, Gibney's take is sympathetic.
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This is four hours of love and music, but the film also wants to address the many controversies, then excuse them. The result: Some lily-gilding, and far too many observations we've heard far too many times before and factoids, too.
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Whenever Gibney does try to shake things up the results are embarrassing.... The facts of Sinatra’s life are still compelling enough that the movie is rarely dull.
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Four hours may seem like a lot, and some of the commentary sounds as if it’s being read from a script, which doesn’t help the time pass quickly. But if anyone deserves a longer-than-usual television documentary, it’s Sinatra, who would have turned 100 this December. The film becomes more interesting the less far back your memory goes.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 7 out of 10
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Mixed: 0 out of 10
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Negative: 3 out of 10
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Apr 14, 2015