76
Metascore
8 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 90Film ThreatLorry KiktaFilm ThreatLorry KiktaI highly recommend this decades-spanning, engrossing, hilarious, sad, and informative documentary to all music fans, whether you liked Davis beforehand or not.
- 90VarietyOwen GleibermanVarietyOwen GleibermanAs someone who’s absorbed bits and pieces of the Miles Davis story over the years but never felt like I had the big picture, I found “Birth of the Cool” to be intensely gratifying. Nelson is a filmmaker with a sixth sense for how to nudge history into the present.
- 90Los Angeles TimesGlenn WhippLos Angeles TimesGlenn WhippThe considerable achievement of “Birth of the Cool” comes from the way it understands those words and places them in the context of American history. You’ll want to listen to Miles’ music after watching the film and, when you do, you might feel it a little deeper.
- 78Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenAustin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenNelson has gifted us with a thoughtful and rich profile which, like a fading note escaping from Davis’ trumpet, leaves us wanting more.
- 70The New York TimesGlenn KennyThe New York TimesGlenn KennyMore than a few moments here are new, and real grabbers.
- 70The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeThe Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeFor those with only a glancing knowledge or none at all, this is as good an introduction as you could want.
- 70Wall Street JournalJohn AndersonWall Street JournalJohn AndersonMr. Nelson’s movie is a gossipy and very musical primer on Davis, who is, needless to say (though it is said and said), among the giants of jazz.
- 63RogerEbert.comNick AllenRogerEbert.comNick AllenFor either newcomers or fans, the documentary’s cradle-to-grave, talking head approach too readily threatens to take the zip, romance, and funk out of a fascinating subject who would be nothing without those very elements.