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Grateful Dawg
Metascore
64 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 18 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 18
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 18
  3. Negative: 0 out of 18
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  1. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Lawrence Van Gelder
    90
    Quite simply a treat for the ear.
  2. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Kenneth Turan
    80
    It's to be expected that the music is going to be wonderful, and it is. But there is more to this film, a surprising amount more.
  3. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Desson Thomson
    80
    Think of this movie as a glorified home video rather than a bitingly insightful documentary. But for Garcia and Grisman, this soft-shoe approach couldn't be more appropriate.
  4. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: Carrie Rickey
    75
    The movie has a musical rather than a cinematic shape, defined by songs played in their entirety.
  5. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Edward Guthmann
    75
    For music fans, there's great pleasure in hearing new audio tracks to "Sitting Here in Limbo," "Friend of the Devil" and more songs -- each one complete and unedited.
  6. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Jay Carr
    75
    The pure joy of music-making is what this gem of a film is all about.
    All this critic's reviews
  7. Baltimore Sun
    Reviewed by: Amanda J. Crawford
    75
    This is a video stroll through a family scrapbook.
    All this publication's reviews
  8. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Steve Simels
    70
    It's especially nice that all the songs on the soundtrack are heard in their entirety, even if the accompanying video footage is sometimes drawn from performances of different vintage.
  9. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: Paul Malcolm
    70
    Grisman's warm, loving home movie in the guise of a documentary.
  10. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: John Petrakis
    63
    A multilayered documentary that explores music and friendship, and in its own quiet way, the battle with fame.
  11. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Jack Mathews
    63
    You won't find many insights into the personalities, or even a hint of the demons that plagued Garcia until his death, but seeing the two men together -- keeps a smile on your face and your feet tapping throughout.
  12. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Lou Lumenick
    63
    Though there are moderately interesting interviews interspersed throughout, Deadheads will want to see the numbers, in which Grisman's more formal style complements Garcia's looser approach to his music.
  13. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Geoffrey Gray
    60
    It's like an 80-minute flip through the Grisman family photo album -- complete with live, unreleased soundtrack.
  14. Variety
    Reviewed by: Dennis Harvey
    60
    The music is fine, but there's little else here to hold the attention of non-Deadheads.
  15. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Lisa Alspector
    60
    Grisman presents, with a sense of humor, the apparent contradictions of a complex personality.
  16. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Marjorie Baumgarten
    50
    A must for any Deadhead and of genuine interest to any music fan, even if its documentary chops hit a few sour notes.
  17. Mr. Showbiz
    Reviewed by: Kevin Maynard
    40
    Ultimately, Grateful Dawg will only be of real interest to musicology students and diehard Deadheads.
    All this critic's reviews
  18. New Times (L.A.)
    Reviewed by: Andy Klein
    40
    With no aspects of the personalities represented outside of their music, Grateful Dawg ends up feeling dry and incomplete; its two subjects are stripped of all other characteristics and come across as not very interesting.
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