Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten
User Score
7.4 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 10 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 10
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 10
  3. Negative: 0 out of 10

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  1. AndrewF.
    Apr 4, 2008
    4
    I'm surprised to see the positive reviews. I felt the film was a sprawling mess that didn't engage. By the end, I was tired of all the nameless faces, poor sound mixing, and the endless montage. My friend who adores Strummer felt he didn't learn anything that any fan would already know. Myself, who knows nothing of Strummer, felt drowned in a sea of confusion. We both felt bored.
  2. keithB.
    Dec 7, 2007
    6
    I had high expectations from the maker of the Filth and the Fury, a real masterpiece. Julien Temple follows up with another excellent doc but at one point I started to think something's not quite right. Ok, the campfire testimonials was pretty bad. But more than that it was the relentlessness of the pacing that didn't work: kind of like watching a train go by, the cars one after another after another. Sorry Julien, I nodded off at one point.… Expand
  3. NikkiIkki
    Dec 13, 2007
    10
    Wonderful! Just Wonderful!

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
79 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 19 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17 out of 19
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 19
  3. Negative: 0 out of 19
  1. New York Magazine (Vulture)
    Reviewed by: David Edelstein
    60
    At least the movie never bogs down. But you only get a taste of what made the Clash for a brief period the most exciting band on that side of the Atlantic.
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  2. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Jim Ridley
    70
    Temple's engrossing portrait of the Clash's late frontman uses endlessly suggestive montage to show how he kept punk's precepts alive, even after he left the music and eventually the earth itself.
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  3. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Owen Gleiberman
    83
    Captures the Joe Strummer who, in the late 1970s, just about firebombed the rock establishment with his fury.
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