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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

Cockettes, The

EMAILPRINTStrand Releasing

Cockettes, The reviews
77
10.0 User Score:

Generally favorable reviews

Based on 22 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 3 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info

Genre(s): Documentary

Written by:

Directed by: Bill Weber
David Weissman

Release Date:
Theatrical: June 28, 2002
DVD: January 21, 2003

Running Time: 100 minutes, Color

Origin: USA

Summary

RATING: Not Rated

This documentary chronicles the rise and fall of the legendary San Francisco theatrical troupe, a group of flamboyant hippies who decked themselves in gender-bending drag and tons of glitter.

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...

100

Film Threat Chris Gore

This is one of those rare docs that paints a grand picture of an era and makes the journey feel like a party.

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91

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

The Cockettes weren't talented, exactly, yet the bedazzled flakiness of their passion takes you closer than just about any movie has to what was once really meant by the term ''free-spirited.''

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90

New Times (L.A.) David Ehrenstein

Brilliant new documentary.

90

Variety David Rooney

Joyously re-creates the brief but resplendent reign of the legendary freakadelic drag troupe.

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89

Austin Chronicle Kimberley Jones

Cue the footage of Cockettes in spangles and glitter, high-kicking and belting out show tunes at the top of their lungs. Damn, it looks grand.

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88

Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach

The Cockettes is a grand place to visit, even for those who wouldn't want to live there.

88

Chicago Tribune Loren King

It puts The Cockettes into social, political and popular cultural context and gives the documentary a moving resonance.

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83

Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy

The film does leave you with the lingering regret that you missed a hell of a good party. It is, as the kids used to say, a trip.

80

LA Weekly Ernest Hardy

A fascinating, richly detailed documentary about the legendary queer collective based in San Francisco in the late '60s and early '70s.

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80

Washington Post Desson Thomson

Has the glorious, gaudy benefit of much stock footage of Those Days, featuring all manner of drag queen, bearded lady and lactating hippie.

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80

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

This comprehensive and charming film not only recalls those days exactly, it also manages the wonderful trick of taking us back there along with it.

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80

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

Looks like Weimar decadence and feels like down-home friendship.

80

Washington Post Ann Hornaday

An absorbing primer in one of the most fascinating chapters in American social history.

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80

The New York Times Dana Stevens

Revisits the San Francisco of the late 1960's and early 70's, a time and place so encrusted with legend and cliché that you might wonder if there is anything left to say. It turns out there is quite a lot -- which the filmmakers have brought triumphantly to life.

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75

Miami Herald Connie Ogle

A sweet reminder of their lost and lively world.

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75

San Francisco Chronicle James Sullivan

A sweet-natured reconsideration of one of San Francisco's most vital, if least widely recognized, creative fountainheads.

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75

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Paula Nechak

The Cockettes is a fascinating poke into the soul of the '60s and it moves past a simple chronology of a counterculture phenomenon to examine how this predecessor to glitter rock and camp movies, such as "The Rocky Horror Show," could ever have ascended to such heights.

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75

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

The Cockettes epitomized a brief confluence of new possibilities, not so much in theater as in personal style, lending them a certain historical value that greatly exceeds their contribution to theater.

70

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

This amazing footage alternates with interviews that include more than a dozen surviving members of the troupe, whose recollections are by turn funny, touching and mind-boggling. What a time!

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60

The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin

Makes a terrific case for the group's historical importance, even though its performances seem more fun to discuss than watch.

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60

Village Voice J. Hoberman

Fond, funny documentary.

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38

New York Post Megan Lehmann

Indulgent, tedious documentary.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 10.0 (out of 10) based on 3 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Mark H. gave it a 10:
Can we all just learn that glamour and talent of people on drugs is only glam to a point the dark reality is that so many of them are gone and that kind of energy and creative flow has changed to a new age of glamour and less madness!

Ricky G. gave it a 10:
One of the best documentaries since gimme shelter!

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