CBGB
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Metascore
30

Generally unfavorable reviews - based on 17 Critics What's this?

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1.5

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  • Starring: ,
  • Summary: CBGB follows the story of Hilly Kristal’s New York club from its conceit as a venue for Country, Bluegrass and Blues (CBGB) to what it ultimately became: the birthplace of underground rock ‘n roll and punk. When Kristal (Alan Rickman) has difficulty booking country bands in his club on the Bhe Bowery he opens his doors to other kinds of rock music. Kristal has one demand of the acts he books; they can only play original music. No top 40′s, no covers. It was the credo he lived by, support the artist at whatever the cost. Hilly Kristal became known as the godfather of punk giving a chance to such bands as Blondie, Television, Ramones, Talking Heads, Dead Boys and The Police. [XLrator Media]… Expand

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 17
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 17
  3. Negative: 11 out of 17
  1. Salon.com
    Reviewed by: Andrew O'Hehir
    Oct 10, 2013
    70
    CBGB has more of the original prankish punk spirit than it even recognizes.
  2. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: John DeFore
    Oct 11, 2013
    50
    Alan Rickman's lead performance highlights a sincere but insubstantial rock pic.
  3. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Mike D'Angelo
    Oct 9, 2013
    42
    Punk may not be dead, but this picture is D.O.A.
  4. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Robert Abele
    Oct 3, 2013
    30
    In its stylistically flailing stab at authenticity, CBGB ends up merely a mess of caricatures.
  5. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Farran Smith Nehme
    Oct 10, 2013
    25
    The most distressing bad choice in CBGB, a movie entirely composed from them, is that those brilliant songs are repurposed studio recordings.
  6. Slant Magazine
    Reviewed by: Tomas Hachard
    Oct 8, 2013
    25
    As the film moves from one musical performance to another, the result increasingly feels like a series of celebrity impersonations set to a best-of-punk compilation album.
  7. Time Out New York
    Reviewed by: Eric Hynes
    Oct 8, 2013
    20
    The film strives to cinematically reanimate that shabby underground lair; instead, it proves to be the most bastardized souvenir bauble of all.

See all 17 Critic Reviews

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  1. Positive: 0 out of 1
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 1
  3. Negative: 1 out of 1
  1. RocktopusPrime
    Oct 5, 2013
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Obviously a love letter, but a haphazard, disjointed one at best. Scene after scene and character after character seemed to be included only because they must have been somehow important, but why they were important is never really explained. It seems more like an anthology of re-enactments of 2nd hand stories, cleaned up and recycled into an TV after-school special (and probably had the same budget, judging by the cheap Halloween wigs that prove to be incredibly distracting in their awfulness). This is especially notable in a scene where, apropos of nothing, the guy from The Big Bang Theory offers a blowie to a guy we're supposed to believe is Iggy Pop...for some reason. I assume it was supposed to be some of the comedy we were promised, but, forced in as it was, it was just confusing.

    There are, inexplicably, two different opening scenes. Both are by-the-book cliches, and neither adds a single thing to the plot, showing us a baby Hilly Kristal running to the neighbors for some reason, and the ham-handed condensed version of the founding of Punk magazine, the inclusion of which exists solely to introduce some sort of narrator who spells out the "message" of the movie in talking points that sound like a book report shoehorned into unnatural dialogue.

    As likable as Alan Rickman is as Hilly, it's worth noting that he is the only real villain in the story as well. What little conflict and plot happens on screen centers around him being his own worst enemy- turning down advice and help at every turn, again, without offering an explanation or providing any context whatsoever for why he makes such bad decisions. There's no insight into who Hilly was as a person, just someone going through the motions like they're following a list.

    It's hard to tell who the audience for this film is. If you're not already familiar with the story, you won't come out really knowing anything of value about this pivotal point in music history. All you'll know is that some guy who was bad at business had a club the Ramones played at, and apparently that's important. If you're already a fan, you'll find the story lacking detail and richness, and the dumbed down spoon-feeding of punk history off-putting and exceedingly mild. The way the rock icons are portrayed is cartoonish, feeling more like an excuse for a costume party than any serious attempt at portraying reality.

    And don't even get me started on the obvious continuity errors sprinkled liberally throughout. The whole thing was like amateur hour, except that it felt more like 4 or 5 hours.    … Expand

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