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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

Lightning in a Bottle

EMAILPRINTSony Pictures Classics

Lightning in a Bottle reviews
78
10.0 User Score:

Generally favorable reviews

Based on 25 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 1 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info

Genre(s): Documentary  |  Musical

Written by:

Directed by: Antoine Fuqua

Release Date:
Theatrical: October 22, 2004
DVD: March 8, 2005

Running Time: 103 minutes, Color

Origin: USA

Summary

RATING: PG-13 for brief strong language

Starring B.B. King, Bonnie Raitt, Buddy Guy, Chris Thomas King, Dr. John, Honeyboy Edwards, Shemekia Copeland, and Natalie Cole

On February 7th, 2003, renowned artists across multiple music genres and generations commandeered the stage at New York City’s Radio City Music Hall to pay tribute to their common heritage and passion - the blues. This documentary captures the night’s magic and weaves a history of the blues through the juxtaposition of performances, backstage interviews, rehearsals and archival clips of some of the greatest names in American music. (Sony Pictures Classics)

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

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

See it with an open heart and a tapping toe.

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90

The New York Times Stephen Holden

Remarkable concert documentary.

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90

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

One terrific concert film.

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89

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

As concert films go, this is heady stuff.

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88

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

Lightning in a Bottle has breadth, both in its multitude of perspectives and its spectrum of performances.

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88

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

A movie which, like all the best blues, makes good times out of bad times, makes smiles out of hurt, makes tears taste like honey.

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88

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

It's hugely entertaining.

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80

The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin

When Lightning In A Bottle steps back and simply lets the old-timers ply their trade, the result is consistently riveting.

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80

Dallas Observer Bill Gallo

Like all good concert films, it's the next best thing to being there.

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80

LA Weekly Ernest Hardy

It’s a rousing celebration.

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80

The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt

Simply lets the sinfully gorgeous music and emotions sweep over an audience.

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80

Variety Eddie Cockrell

Undeniably powerful on the bigscreen.

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80

Washington Post Richard Harrington

Cinematographer Lisa Rinzler beautifully frames the performances, capturing a night of brilliant blues.

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75

San Francisco Chronicle Joel Selvin

The end result is something like the best blues festival anyone could have thrown last year, although Lightning in a Bottle falls a fair piece short of its own lofty goal.

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75

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey

Comes alive with the more relaxed performances from its senior set.

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75

Miami Herald Howard Cohen

If you haven't caught Lightning on PBS already, find a theater with a good sound system, sit back and be grateful the music endures.

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75

New York Post Megan Lehmann

A joyous, toe-tapping celebration of a musical style born of sorrow.

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75

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

Fuqua's passion for the music comes through in the clear, unobtrusive style of the film, which mixes generous footage of the event's performances with interviews and archival footage, all adding up to a luscious historical snapshot of one America's original art forms.

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75

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Bill White

Despite some iffy moments, Lighting is the closest one to get to the music from which, as Hubert Sumlin notes, "there is no retiring. You stay with it until the end."

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70

Village Voice Laura Sinagra

Offers a bumper crop of tasty bits.

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70

Washington Post Sean Daly

The movie manages to educate without losing steam.

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67

Entertainment Weekly Scott Brown

The music's sensational, but you keep waiting for the pledge number to flash up.

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60

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones

You'd have to be a real curmudgeon not to enjoy a show with Ruth Brown, Mavis Staples, Solomon Burke...

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50

Film Threat Phil Hall

A documentary which wobbles and weaves as much as often as it soars.

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50

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

It's as hard not to ask what former New York Doll David Johansen is doing in their company, prancing his way through an irrelevant version of Howlin' Wolf's "Killing Floor," as it is not to wonder why the audience is so overwhelmingly white.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 10.0 (out of 10) based on 1 User Votes

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

Bernard P. gave it a 10:
One can't top Solomon Burke, India Arie, Angelique / Buddy Guy, Shemekia Copeland's performances...this movie is pure heaven...the cover of VooDoo Child by buddy guy & ANgelique is the best cover since SRV and sung with a dead on spritual understanding of the piece...and Solomon Burke rocks the house front to back and top to bottom - even if you are a wanna be blues lover or musician - you better not miss this baby, don't cha miss it at all!!

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