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51 Birch Street

Generally favorable reviews
Based on 16 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 4 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info
Genre(s): Documentary
Written by:
Doug Block
Amy Seplin
Directed by: Doug Block
Release Date:
Theatrical: October 18, 2006
Running Time: 90 minutes, Color
Origin: Germany / USA
Summary
RATING: Not Rated
Starring Mike Block, Mina Block, Kitty Block, Ellen Block, Karen Block Engwall, and Marjorie Silver
Both unexpectedly funny and heartbreaking, 51 Birch Street is the first-person account of Block’s unpredictable journey through a whirlwind of dramatic life-changing events: the death of his mother, the uncovering of decades of family secrets, and the ensuing reconciliation with his father. What begins as his own intimate, autobiographical story soon evolves into a broader meditation on the universal themes of love, marriage, fidelity and the mystery of family. (Copacetic Pictures)
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
San Francisco Chronicle Ruthe Stein
Block's hypnotic documentary, among the finest of the year.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker
51 Birch Street, like the best of the recent wave of personal documentaries, is both a compelling story and an eye-opening bit of social history.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum
A warm and honest portrait of a marriage at its most mysterious, and ordinary.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone Peter Travers
Through haunting home movies, Mina's diaries and interviews with Mike, a raw, riveting portrait emerges of what a child sees in his parents' relationship and what lies beneath.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Ann Hornaday
Block, an experienced documentarian, does an outstanding job walking the knife-edge between personal and self-absorbed.
Read Full Review >Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir
Block has made a sad, delightful and half-accidental movie about his own parents.
Read Full Review >Variety Eddie Cockrell
A tonal triumph of true-life storytelling told with equal measures of tension and redemption.
Read Full Review >The New York Times A.O. Scott
Mr. Block has put his parents’ life, and his own, into this film with such warmth and candor that it may take more than one viewing to recognize it as a work of art.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Ella Taylor
Open-minded, probing but never prurient, 51 Birch Street is much more than a portrait of suburban ennui. It's a loving, painful map of the gulf between thought and word, between word and deed, that props up good marriages, and sends bad ones to hell.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Sam Adams
What makes 51 Birch Street a moving revelation rather than a therapeutic exercise is Block's commitment to understanding his parents, Mike and Mina, on their own terms, regardless of what it does to his image of them.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman
The intimate history of Doug Block's parents becomes fodder for a broader look at family secrets in this complex documentary.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips
The film has a compelling way about it. All five of the immediate Block family members emerge in full and affecting portraits.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Ken Fox
What's best about Block's documentary is how well he captures his own shifting perceptions.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum
This isn't always adept as storytelling, and Block's coming to terms with his own denseness occasionally tries one's patience, but he manages to make the overall process of his reeducation fascinating and compelling.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Melissa Levine
Begins shakily, with a naked self-consciousness that can be off-putting, but quickly develops into an absorbing and ever deepening drama.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Tasha Robinson
The joys of watching a man carry out his own therapy onscreen are fairly limited.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 9.5 (out of 10) based on 4 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
