Metascore
59 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 9 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 9
  2. Negative: 1 out of 9
  1. Reviewed by: Regina Hackett
    100
    Maybe because I happen to be reading "Moby Dick" and was therefore more open to the wider world of whale metaphor, I found Chernick's view of Barney and his working entourage riveting.
  2. Reviewed by: Ken Fox
    75
    Chernick may not answer every question about this beguiling and enigmatic film, but you wouldn't want it to: Mystery is an essential part of the Barney experience.
  3. Reviewed by: Leslie Felperin
    70
    Whatever audiences might have wanted to know about sculptor-filmmaker Matthew Barney but were too embarrassed to ask is revealed in accessible documentary Matthew Barney: No Restraint.
  4. 67
    No Restraint misses a lot of opportunities, like the chance to contrast Barney's work with artists working on a lower budget, or to examine his positive and negative influence on modern art, or to break down an economic model based on selling off the pieces Barney discards along the way.
  5. While not as balanced or fully satisfying as it should be, Matthew Barney: No Restraint will fit naturally as a pairing for future theatrical and DVD exposures of Barney's controversial works.
  6. Reviewed by: Michelle Orange
    60
    Chernick's film traces the creation of Barney's "narrative sculpture" with open curiosity and an alert, amiable eye.
  7. 50
    Pleasant enough, with funny moments.
  8. Alison Chernick's film skims the surface of a strange and celebrated career. After a meager 72 minutes, the man who once stretched an obsession with testicles into a five-film cycle remains as unknowable as ever.
  9. Reviewed by: Ken Johnson
    38
    As blandly lucid as Barney's is wildly and perplexingly imaginative.
User Score

Generally unfavorable- based on 4 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 2
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 2
  3. Negative: 1 out of 2
  1. jacobf.
    2
    A hybrid of Walt Disney and Marilyn Manson... icky and banal. But it's very very trendy, and what else really matters?
  2. JamesL.
    7
    Much is revealed about the artist's method but little is revealed about the artist himself in this compelling documentary. I was confused after seeing his Cremaster Cycle at the Guggenheim; I am still confused after seeing this movie - and that is not an entirely bad thing. Go with an open mind. Full Review »