71
Metascore
14 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100Village VoiceAlan ScherstuhlVillage VoiceAlan ScherstuhlOrdinary life comes to look like a humiliation in the late reels of Lenny Cooke, yet another heartbreaker of a doc in which a compelling basketball story powers a discomfiting examination of a crisis facing young American men.
- 83The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyThe A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyThe question of why Cooke’s career never materialized hangs over the movie, but is never answered. What emerges instead is a portrait of a talented teenager being readied — by coaches, basketball camps, and the media — for a future that doesn’t arrive.
- 80VarietyScott FoundasVarietyScott FoundasA penetrating and ultimately heartbreaking inventory of hard lessons learned on and off the court.
- 75Slant MagazineJesse CataldoSlant MagazineJesse CataldoWhile it verges on exploitation of the gentle giant at its core, it's also an effective bit of human drama, competently, and sometimes movingly, telling a story that deserves to be told.
- 70The DissolveScott TobiasThe DissolveScott TobiasWhile Lenny Cooke’s considerable social and emotional resonance still doesn’t measure up to Hoop Dreams’, the Safdies beautifully evoke the other side of the professional game, the many basketball casualties who don’t get movies made about them.
- 60Time OutDavid FearTime OutDavid FearYou walk away with far more questions than answers — a profile foul by any other name.
- 40The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeThe Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeWhile a composited scene, in which has-been Lenny lectures his younger self about work ethic and wisdom, has an undeniable poignancy, actual tragedy remains far beyond the film's grasp -- as does any illumination beyond the unsurprising suggestion that Cooke just didn't want success as much as peers like LeBron James.
- 40The New York TimesNicolas RapoldThe New York TimesNicolas RapoldLike the 1994 documentary landmark “Hoop Dreams,” Lenny Cooke measures out the years with a pensive jazz motif, but the film feels comparatively stuck on a couple of notes.