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Derrida
Metascore
73 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 17 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 16 out of 17
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 17
  3. Negative: 1 out of 17
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  1. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: Holly Willis
    90
    The result is fascinating, whether you're smitten by him or his work, or simply intrigued by contemporary thought.
  2. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Scott Tobias
    90
    As the film takes shape, the form and the subject develop a fascinating symbiosis, with Derrida cast as an active participant in the deconstruction of his own documentary.
  3. Film Threat
    Reviewed by: Tim Merrill
    80
    Even if you have no idea what French philosopher Jacques Derrida's theories are about, allow your mind the chance to be teased and twisted by the unique new documentary.
  4. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: J. Hoberman
    80
    The movie is ultimately about the philosopher's personality -- if you loved "Lingua Franca" (and what lumpen academoid did not?), you'll certainly dig Derrida.
  5. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Kenneth Turan
    80
    An absolutely first-rate documentary.
  6. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: A.O. Scott
    80
    The adoring and adorable documentary on the philosopher Jacques Derrida.
  7. Variety
    Reviewed by: Dennis Harvey
    80
    An affectionate but aptly complex view of one of our epoch's great philosophers.
  8. Wall Street Journal
    Reviewed by: Joe Morgenstern
    80
    Challenging and fascinating -- everything you didn't know you didn't know about Derrida's life and work.
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  9. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Jonathan Rosenbaum
    80
    If you think 85 minutes devoted to a "difficult" French philosopher is bound to be either abstruse or watered-down middlebrow stuff, think again.
  10. Christian Science Monitor
    Reviewed by: David Sterritt
    75
    Who would have guessed a documentary about Derrida, the great French philosopher of deconstruction and "différence," would be so entertaining?
  11. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Elizabeth Weitzman
    75
    The sort of film one should probably see either a half-dozen times or not at all. It's a complex, highly ambitious documentary that aptly reflects its subject, contemporary French philosopher Jacques Derrida.
  12. New York Post
    Reviewed by: V.A. Musetto
    75
    The result puts a human face on Derrida, and makes one of the great minds of our times interesting and accessible to people who normally couldn't care less.
  13. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Edward Guthmann
    75
    Nicely photographed and beautifully scored.
  14. The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
    Reviewed by: Rick Groen
    75
    The picture's charm lies in the continuing by-play between the filmmakers and their subject, with each side doing its best to deconstruct the other.
  15. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Ken Fox
    70
    Overall, the filmmakers are a little too reverent -- it would have been interesting to hear Derrida respond to criticism leveled against deconstruction as an academic methodology -- but then again, they're not entirely in control here.
  16. Portland Oregonian
    Reviewed by: Shawn Levy
    67
    A charming but only partly satisfying portrait of its subject.
  17. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Marjorie Baumgarten
    20
    For those unfamiliar with the notoriously camera-averse philosopher and his thoughts, Derrida will most probably prove to be an unenlightening bore.
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