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Gunnin' for That #1 Spot
Metascore
59 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 13 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 13
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 13
  3. Negative: 1 out of 13
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  1. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Chris Nashawaty
    75
    Glosses over the kids' lives off the court.
  2. Portland Oregonian
    Reviewed by: M. E. Russell
    75
    A basketball documentary where the climactic game looks like a Hong Kong wire-fu epic.
  3. Baltimore Sun
    Reviewed by: Michael Sragow
    75
    The Summer Olympics may offer more intricate, arduous and high-stakes spectacles, but nothing will top the last half-hour of Gunnin' for That #1 Spot for adrenalized high spirits.
  4. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Gary Goldstein
    70
    It's sure to satisfy the film's target youth audience's appetite for zippy visuals and swift pacing.
  5. Variety
    Reviewed by: Ronnie Scheib
    70
    Beastie Boy Adam Yauch proves he can make a comprehensive, state-of-the-art docu of interest to basketball aficionados.
  6. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Scott Tobias
    67
    Comes from a pure place. Or rather, it comes from a DESIRE for a pure place in a game poisoned by mercenary compromise.
  7. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Barry Temkin
    63
    Yauch clearly understands this world, but his film would have profited from looking more deeply at fewer players.
  8. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Kyle Smith
    63
    The film is well shot and edited, backed with a bouncy hip-hop soundtrack and full of pep.
  9. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Joe Neumaier
    60
    Culminating in a high-scoring, exciting game, "Gunnin'" scores.
  10. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Jeannette Catsoulis
    60
    As guileless and eager as the most avid fan, Gunnin' is neither cautionary nor analytical, allowing its insights to occur organically and without fancy camera moves.
  11. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Nick Pinkerton
    50
    As each player's run through the same routine--hometown meet-and-greet, biographical sketch, hasty interview--the burden of the formulaic structure starts to wear.
  12. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Mike Mayo
    50
    For all the flash and dazzle, Gunnin' for That #1 Spot never comes close to the power and intimacy of 1994's "Hoop Dreams." The comparison may be unfair, but, given the subject matter, it's inevitable.
  13. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: J.R. Jones
    30
    With no personalities established and nothing at stake, it's no more interesting than a pickup game on your local court.
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