68
Metascore
27 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 90L.A. WeeklyErnest HardyL.A. WeeklyErnest HardyHoneydripper is classic Sayles cinema: an insightful sketch of assorted common folk whose criss-crossing dreams and agendas unfold against larger, more powerful (and sometimes crushing) sociopolitical and cultural forces.
- 90VarietyVarietyThe result is one of Sayles' best films. The music, a mix of blues, seminal rock and newcomer Gary Clark Jr.'s performance, will be an obvious draw, as will the performances by some leading African-American actors.
- 80Los Angeles TimesKevin CrustLos Angeles TimesKevin CrustMusic may be Honeydripper's most indelible element and Sayles and longtime collaborator, composer Mason Daring, seamlessly incorporate several original songs alongside the soundtrack's period tunes.
- 75TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonaghTV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonaghIt's about ordinary people living in the shadow of nagging, day-to-day racism, and about the music that reminds them of what's right with the world rather than what's wrong.
- 70The Hollywood ReporterKirk HoneycuttThe Hollywood ReporterKirk HoneycuttHis heart -- and musical soul -- is in the right place, but the film makes you at times uncomfortable with black and Southern stereotypes that may hinder some from fully enjoying an otherwise benign and cheerful tall tale of the Saturday night when rock came to rural Alabama.
- 70The New YorkerDavid DenbyThe New YorkerDavid DenbyAt its best when the characters sit around, dither, and ruminate. Moviemaking seems to have become almost magically easy for this independent writer-director. He builds a detailed atmosphere, brings his good people and his bad together, and lets them jabber at one another; the virtuosity is rhetorical rather than visual.
- 67The A.V. ClubScott TobiasThe A.V. ClubScott TobiasThere are precisely zero surprises in how things play out--the main thread is basically "Big Night" revisited--but the film gets better as it goes along, and it closes with a rousing musical flourish, as immensely charismatic newcomer Clark Jr. finally hits the stage. At last, Sayles' sleepy drama wakes with a start.
- 63New York Daily NewsJack MathewsNew York Daily NewsJack MathewsLike previous films by the literary-minded auteur John Sayles, Honeydripper takes forever to develop its characters, its period and its location. But once it's done all that, the payoffs are rich.
- 60The New York TimesStephen HoldenThe New York TimesStephen HoldenHoneydripper is agreeable, well-intentioned and very, very slow. Sadly, it illustrates the difference between an archetype and a stereotype. When the first falls flat, it turns into the other and becomes a cliché.
- 50New York PostKyle SmithNew York PostKyle SmithThe movie is well-acted, but it's as talky as if it were written for the stage, with fatally slow pacing. Strictly for hard-core Sayles fans and maybe for lovers of American roots music.