71
Metascore
11 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 80Time OutDavid FearTime OutDavid FearThe film occasionally skews a little on the PBS-dry side, but in terms of looking back on a legacy of American skullduggery and high-level shenanigans, its access and acknowledgment of our dark past make for one intimate indictment.
- 80Village VoiceVillage VoiceRespectful, loving, but never lionizing, Carl's thorough investigation transcends his personal catharsis to become an enduring treatise on how character flaws affect policy.
- Carl Colby's smart, fact-packed film The Man Nobody Knew operates on many levels, all riveting.
- 80The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckThe Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckCarl Colby's deeply felt exploration of his father's life and career is as emotionally, as it is historically, intriguing, even if the filmmaker ultimately admits that he's never quite able to get to the bottom of his subject's enigmatic personality.
- 75Slant MagazineSlant MagazineAt the same time that director Carl Colby probes into the true character of his mysterious father through an arsenal of interviews with those that knew him, he gives equal weight to the dark chapters of America's history that his father's life traversed.
- 70VarietyRonnie ScheibVarietyRonnie ScheibOddly, the director's personal connection with his subject adds little warmth, filmmaker Carl proving nearly as unemotional as his deadpan dad.
- 70Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternWall Street JournalJoe MorgensternThe Man Nobody Knew is packed with knowledge of another sort. It amounts to an absorbing, sometimes appalling course in how U.S. foreign policy evolved and functioned following World War II.
- The Man Nobody Knew is far better with matters of the public record than with matters of the home, which may sum up its subject better than any talking-head interview.
- 63Boston GlobeMark FeeneyBoston GlobeMark FeeneyThe family snapshots are more revealing. The sight of Colby wearing a tie at family picnics really says something about the sort of man he was. But they're not that much more revealing.
- 50San Francisco ChronicleAmy BiancolliSan Francisco ChronicleAmy BiancolliEven his wife barely knew him, recalling for her son the peculiarities of raising a family amid Daddy's cloak and dagger - and if she's baffled by his behavior, what hope is there for anyone else?