‘What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael’ lets the critic speak her mind.
by Kenneth Turan Los Angeles Times
Rob Garver’s engaging new documentary “What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael,” a must for any film fan.
by G. Allen Johnson San Francisco Chronicle
Kael’s blunt, brilliant, wryly amused prose is resuscitated with lively affection in “What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael,” Rob Garver’s love letter to a woman whose infectious passion for the cinema coincided with one of the most prodigious eras in the art form’s history.
by Ann Hornaday The Washington Post
... it is a near must-see for cinephiles and fans of Kael’s impressive career. Younger generations at the onset of their love affair with film might just find wonder and awe in an era of art and journalism that thrived before the Internet.
by Tom Meek Cambridge Day
The portrait that emerges is of an outsider, who turned film reviewing into personal performance art.
by James Verniere Boston Herald
The film is a fantastic look both at Kael’s life and the impact she had on the people around her and her career field.
by Kyle Kruse Daily Nebraskan
Rarely do we see honest depictions of the motivations and inclinations of professional critics. But the new documentary from Rob Garver, What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael ... attempts to shine a light on an extremely influential American film critic who withstood as many slings and arrows as she flung.
by Erica Ciccarone Nashville Scene
‘What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael’ is a wonderful visitation of the famed critic’s life.
by Lorry Kikkta Film Threat
What She Said is a brisk exercise in film history, but the dominant figure, justly, is Kael herself.
by Robert Hunt Riverfront Times
No film buff or budding critic should miss this.
by Leonad Maltin Leonad Maltin
A terrific portrait of the legendary critic, as objective as she was proudly subjective. Pulls no punches on her complicated life and work but rightly hails how she revolutionized thinking about film.
by Maryann Johanson Flick Filospher
...it is a pleasant reminder of her greatness and a nostalgic look back at an era that changed American cinema forever.
by Lee Jutton Film Inquiry
Garver’s film captures her incendiary and multi-faceted life.
by Chris Knight National Post
What would legendary film critic Pauline Kael think about Rob Garver’s documentary about her own life and career? She might have loved the fawning introductions by both filmmakers and fellow critics alike or they might have repulsed her, but she certainly would have enjoyed the inherent weirdness of making a movie about someone who spent so much of her life watching movies.
by Kate Erbland IndieWire
An exquisitely crafted documentary about the woman who was arguably the greatest movie critic who ever lived. WHAT SHE SAID plays like a twirling kaleidoscope of Kael's criticism and film history that's fully in touch with the devil-may-care imperiousness of her personality. A pure, uncut hit of the tastiest cinephile candy imaginable.
by Owen Gleiberman Variety
What makes What She Said so great is that it beautifully captures the lyricism of the author in question, while surveying Pauline Kael’s career as film critic for The New Yorker, while not shying away from legitimate criticism but also capturing what made her unique and brilliant.
by Chris Burlingame The Sun Break
What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael, Rob Garver’s portrait of the influential, combative film critic, maker of reputations and ruthless scourge of mediocrity.
by Jonathan Romney The Guardian
A celebration of the pleasure of intellectual and emotional response to art. Musters a heavyweight crowd of admirers and acolytes - with the odd demuring voice - and assembles a kaleidoscopic montage of movie clips, archive footage and Kael's own home movies. Cinephiles will latch onto this lively, entertaining essay.
by Jonathan Romney Screen Daily
What She Said is adamantly engaging, full of lively, appreciative voices that, more than anything else, bring her enthusiasm and keen-mindedness back to life.
by Todd McCarthy The Hollywood Reporter
...a lively, exhaustively researched, and stunningly well edited tribute to an uncompromising talent.
by N.B. The Economist
A no-brainer for film buffs. Candid and lively. Her writing still packs a punch and is as conversational as ever.
by Kent Turner Film-Forward.com
All hail the queen. Kael was that rare creature, the superstar critic whose opinion could change the trajectory of a given film's path to or from success.
by Christopher Llewellyn Reed, Hammer to Nail