70
Metascore
13 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 90VarietyOwen GleibermanVarietyOwen GleibermanThe movie just about pulses with contemporary resonance.
- As a history of this war of ideas and as an introduction to Jacobs, the film is essential. But it also pivots toward a great challenge: today’s global urbanization.
- 80NPRBob MondelloNPRBob MondelloJacobs argued that what looks to officialdom like disorder is actually what makes a crowded human landscape function — it's just a more complex order. This compelling documentary lets you see the beauty she found in that complexity.
- 80Time OutJoshua RothkopfTime OutJoshua RothkopfA beautifully organized documentary (befitting its subject, urban planning), Matt Tyrnauer’s elegant profile sets up its iconic NYC showdown along geometric lines.
- 75San Francisco ChronicleWalter AddiegoSan Francisco ChronicleWalter AddiegoIt’s a complicated tale, and at 92 minutes, the film is a very brief summary.
- 75Washington PostStephanie MerryWashington PostStephanie MerryDirector Matt Tyrnauer mixes lively archival footage, including a memorable news interview with an angry Italian grandmother, with testimony from passionate experts to demonstrate the importance of city design.
- 70Village VoiceApril WolfeVillage VoiceApril WolfeTyrnauer transforms what could be a staid profile film into an urgent story about the dangers of “urban renewal,” something Jacobs herself would admire.
- 70Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranLos Angeles TimesKenneth TuranThe film delineates the rise and fall of conventional urban planning, but also lets us know that the battle is not completely over.
- 60The New York TimesGlenn KennyThe New York TimesGlenn KennyOnly intermittently stimulating.
- 50Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternWall Street JournalJoe MorgensternUnfortunately, the climax comes with more than a half hour to go, and the film, losing its focus on Jane Jacobs, turns its attention to the urban-renewal plague that devastated cities across America.