62
Metascore
14 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100San Francisco ChronicleSan Francisco ChronicleBoth a memoir and a history lesson, the film looks back on their late father - a crusading civil rights lawyer who later defended a host of unsavory characters - with a combination of love, admiration and bafflement for the man he was and the career he forged.
- 75Boston GlobeWesley MorrisBoston GlobeWesley MorrisThis engrossing and provocative documentary is also about a tragic kind of liberal guilt.
- 75New York PostKyle SmithNew York PostKyle SmithIt is said that everyone either loved or hated radical defense lawyer William Kunstler. A documentary by his daughters asks, "Why choose 'or' instead of 'both'?"
- 70The Hollywood ReporterJames GreenbergThe Hollywood ReporterJames GreenbergCompelling portrait of famed radical lawyer by his daughters.
- 67The A.V. ClubNoel MurrayThe A.V. ClubNoel MurrayDisturbing The Universe doesn’t mix it up enough.
- 50VarietyVarietyIn attempting to address its subject's ideological discrepancies, "Kunstler" lacks the objectivity needed to put the lawyer's shift from '60s fist-pumper to '80s and '90s headline-grabber in proper context.
- 50The New York TimesStephen HoldenThe New York TimesStephen HoldenAlthough the film, with its home movies and family reminiscences, portrays him as a heroic crusader for justice, it is by no means a hagiography of a man who earned widespread contempt late in his career for defending pariahs.
- 40Village VoiceVillage VoiceWhat makes the film fascinating is the anguished dance around hagiography performed by two of his daughters, who wrote, directed, and narrated the movie.
- 40Time OutKeith UhlichTime OutKeith UhlichThe film slowly loses the sobering toughness of its initial inquiry, and finally comes off as bloodline-biased hagiography.
- 40New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierNew York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierThis doc, made by Kunstler's daughters Emily and Sarah, doesn't pretend to be unbiased, but it nonetheless has an unblinking view of its subject. They must have learned a thing or two from dad.