For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism

For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism documents the creation and rise to prominence of movie reviews following the birth of cinema more than 100 years ago, with the film covering the various touchstones that have cropped up over the decades and boasting interviews with such notable figures as Roger Ebert, Andrew Sarris, Elvis Mitchell, and A.O. Scott. It’s clear immediately that For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism has been designed to appeal to a very specific demographic, although, to be fair, it’s worth noting that director Gerald Peary generally does a nice job of opening the proceedings up to a wider audience – with the frequent inclusion of captivating film clips often compensating for the predominantly static, talking-heads-type atmosphere. Peary’s efforts at documenting every important era within the film criticism scene ultimately does ensure that certain sections are either too short or too long (eg the prolonged emphasis on Pauline Kael’s reign is surely an apt example of the latter), with Peary’s decidedly low-rent aesthetic – eg the score sounds like something one could download for free from the internet – undoubtedly compounding the movie’s pervasively erratic feel. And although the film admittedly overstays its welcome to a slight degree, For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism is, for the most part, an eye-opening primer into the world of movie reviewing that finally, appreciatively gives critics their due.

*** out of ****