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Bill Cunningham New York
Metascore
76 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 23 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 20 out of 23
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 23
  3. Negative: 0 out of 23
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  1. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    May 19, 2011
    100
    Here is a good and joyous man who leads a life that is perfect for him, and how many people do we meet like that? This movie made me happy every moment I was watching it.
  2. Movieline
    Reviewed by: Stephanie Zacharek
    Mar 16, 2011
    95
    What Press comes up with in the end isn't just a portrait of individual eccentricity. Its larger subject is the way one man, just by being alive to what's around him, has created a vast, detailed anthropological record of how New Yorkers present, and feel, about themselves.
  3. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Carina Chocano
    Mar 17, 2011
    90
    If the film suggests that there's something bittersweet about a life dedicated to a single pursuit cultivated with an almost religious fervor, it also stands in awe of its subject's seemingly inexhaustible, self-abnegating capacity to remain attuned to the expression of others.
  4. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Scott Tobias
    Mar 17, 2011
    83
    It's no insult to say that the fine documentary Bill Cunningham New York resembles one of those minor profiles found in The New Yorker's "Talk Of The Town" section: a slight, glancing, yet subtly wrought slice of New York life. And it seems likely that the exceedingly modest Cunningham would want it that way.
  5. The Guardian
    Reviewed by: Peter Bradshaw
    Mar 16, 2012
    80
    He lived until recently in bohemian chaos in one of the "artist apartments" in Carnegie Hall, and cares nothing for money or vanity. That's real class.
  6. Total Film
    Reviewed by: Carmen Gray
    Mar 16, 2012
    80
    A documentary that'll make more than just fashionistas smile.
  7. Arizona Republic
    Reviewed by: Bill Goodykoontz
    Jun 23, 2011
    80
    As much as his admirers praise him, they also say they don't know much about him or his private life. Press opens a small window into that world.
  8. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: J.R. Jones
    May 19, 2011
    80
    Near the end Press poses a couple of personal questions that pierce the old man's defenses in the most painful and revealing way, suggesting a much more complicated emotional wellspring for the work that consumes his life.
  9. Slate
    Reviewed by: Nathan Heller
    Mar 19, 2011
    80
    The Bill Cunningham captured here is a puckish, eightysomething man with electric energy and a wish to devour all of New York through his camera lens.
  10. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Stephen Farber
    Mar 14, 2011
    80
    This fascinating documentary about famed photographer Bill Cunningham features interviews with Vogue editor Anna Wintour, author Tom Wolfe and New York Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr.
  11. Boxoffice Magazine
    Reviewed by: Pam Grady
    Mar 14, 2011
    80
    The documentary will resonate with New York Times' readers and fans of personal stories.
  12. Variety
    Reviewed by: Ronnie Scheib
    Mar 14, 2011
    80
    Rarely has anyone embodied contradictions as happily and harmoniously as octogenarian New York Times photographer Bill Cunningham.
  13. The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
    Reviewed by: Liam Lacey
    Apr 22, 2011
    75
    Not surprisingly, it's a cinematic mash note, but apparently a deserved one.
  14. Miami Herald
    Reviewed by: Rene Rodriguez
    Apr 21, 2011
    75
    Shows us a man who not only derives great pleasure from devoting himself to his job but also, in the process, has helped shaped the greatest city in the world.
  15. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Walter Addiego
    Apr 7, 2011
    75
    Cunningham's work is about seeing and teaching us how to see, and that should be plenty for us.
  16. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Wesley Morris
    Apr 7, 2011
    75
    It's as much a portrait of a kind of artist as it is a document of a city's evolving sense of style.
  17. St. Louis Post-Dispatch
    Reviewed by: Joe Williams
    Apr 1, 2011
    75
    Cunningham's answers to pointed questions about romantic love and religious faith are so open-hearted, we understand that he's bigger than just New York.
  18. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Kenneth Turan
    Mar 24, 2011
    70
    Front and center in all of this, though he clearly would rather not be, is Cunningham himself, a man of enormous good cheer who gets riled only when he fears his creative prerogatives are being infringed on.
  19. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Mark Holcomb
    Mar 15, 2011
    70
    No passion for fashion is required to enjoy this absorbing portrait of legendary New York Times "On the Street" photographer Bill Cunningham, but a sense of history and tragedy might help.
  20. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Kimberley Jones
    May 19, 2011
    67
    Provides no revelations and left this viewer, at least, puzzling over whether the picture Cunningham has allowed to develop of him is completely transparent or utterly impenetrable.
  21. Empire
    Reviewed by: David Parkinson
    Mar 12, 2012
    60
    As Cunningham goes about his work chronicling changes in fashion and the city he loves, a portrait emerges of a man deserving of ever bit of the respect and esteem in which he's held. There's few sharp edges or dirt digging, but it's no less engaging for that.
  22. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Elizabeth Weitzman
    Mar 18, 2011
    60
    It's hard not to wonder if Press might have offered a similarly impactful portrait in a more concise manner.
  23. Time Out New York
    Reviewed by: David Fear
    Mar 15, 2011
    60
    Anyone curious about the man behind the lens may find this doc, like its subject, frustratingly opaque and out of reach. Those interested in witnessing a true NYC eccentric document everyday-people city life one outfit at a time, however, will feel like this has been tailor-made.
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User Reviews

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User Score
7.8 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 5 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 1
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 1
  3. Negative: 0 out of 1
  1. CitizenCharlie
    10
    Bill Cunningham can’t be bought. He is there to observe and to take pictures, not to consume the fancy meal or mingle with the celebrities; a line which most individuals in his position would most likely blur. Bill has a section of the Sunday New York Times Style section where he will point out a new clothing trend he sees on the streets, what people were wearing at a recent evening gala, or just profile an interesting looking person. I used to skip over this section every week; however, now that I know about Bill from the excellent documentary Bill Cunningham New York, I will never skip over this section again. Even though Bill is now 80 years old, he still dons his signature blue jacket every day and rides his bicycle all over Manhattan searching and taking pictures. If it is raining, he will duct tape a garbage bag over his shirt. He is searching for interesting clothing and it does not matter if a celebrity is wearing them or not. A major separation between Bill and other photographers is he is just fine not taking a celebrity picture; he does not care at all about a person’s fame level, just in their choice of clothing. Bill is usually the first to notice a new trend. While frequenting street corners, crosswalks, and the outside of department stores, he will immediately stop his bike (sometimes in the middle of traffic) to snap a few shots. During the first week of August, he happened to notice that a lot of New Yorkers were wearing black and made that a his column’s focus. Bill has become a celebrity on his bicycle as he cruises the streets and there are many influential people, who Bill could care less about, who crave his attention. There are interviews from Anna Wintour, Tom Wolfe, and other very powerful people in the fashion industry who will also take time out of their day to find out what Bill knows. Even though he has the power to affect clothing trends, until very recently, Bill lived in Carnegie Hall as one of the few remaining visual artist tenants before the final lot of them were evicted to new premises. He slept on a cot in what could be described as closet space surrounded by dozens of file cabinets containing his life’s work. If Bill thinks he has seen something before, he is pretty sure he can go back and find it. One example is of a designer who revealed a new collection only for Bill to find a 1972 photo montage of an eerily similar line. Bill Cunningham New York is a documentary I was not eager to see because I assumed it was just about the fashion world. I was completely wrong. It is not about fashion, it is just about Bill and his routine which is completely absorbing and perhaps the best documentary of the year. It is also the second documentary this year dealing with the New York Times as it was released just before Page One: Inside the New York Times. Now that I have seen them both, there is a reason the story on Bill Cunningham is on the short list of 15 documentaries which are eligible for this year’s Best Documentary Oscar. If it happens to win, it will not matter very much to Bill. He will be doing what he does every day, riding his bicycle to find the next interesting pair of shoes.… Full Review »
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