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We Live in Public
Metascore
69 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 15 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 15
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 15
  3. Negative: 0 out of 15
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  1. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    100
    This is a remarkable film about a strange and prophetic man. What does it tell us? Did living a virtual life destroy him?
  2. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Marc Savlov
    89
    Harris' thought-provoking performance art/life isn't yet over, but by film's end he's become unplugged, both literally and metaphorically.
  3. Time Out New York
    Reviewed by: David Fear
    80
    Would be fascinating by virtue of its subject alone. But the filmmaker wisely emphasizes how Harris also represents something bigger; this isn't just the story of one man but also the dawning of the virtual über alles age and the death of privacy.
  4. Variety
    Reviewed by: Rob Nelson
    80
    This astounding new documentary burrows into the thin and darkly funny spaces between artistry and vanity, isolation and community, collaboration and exploitation, sanity and madness.
  5. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Mick LaSalle
    75
    Harris saw this brave new world more than a decade ago - and liked what he saw. To watch We Live in Public is to wonder if the world we live in is just a reflection of one man's neurosis - if Harris's mix of emotional distance and rabid self-promotion has simply gone viral.
  6. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Ty Burr
    75
    Fascinating, like a car wreck seen through a rearview mirror.
  7. Portland Oregonian
    Reviewed by: Shawn Levy
    75
    It's a timely and lively film that reminds us that such phenomena as reality TV, YouTube celebrity and living one's life 24/7 on Facebook and Twitter aren't necessarily brand new.
  8. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Manohla Dargis
    70
    From the ample evidence, Mr. Harris's own life in public was a bust. Ms. Timoner sees him as a cautionary tale as well as a visionary.
  9. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: J.R. Jones
    70
    A frightening portrait of a man whose technological genius fails to compensate for his gaping emotional deficits.
  10. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Noel Murray
    67
    We Live In Public doesn't show that Harris was a genius so much as that he was a mentally and emotionally unstable egotist, trying to force a revolution in self-broadcasting and connectivity that later happened more naturally.
  11. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Michael O'Sullivan
    63
    The title of Ondi Timoner's Sundance award-winning documentary about the loss of privacy in the Internet age says it all: "We Live in Public." Don't believe it? Just try Googling "Tiger Woods" or "Michaele Salahi."
  12. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Joe Neumaier
    60
    A snapshot of several New York eras that coincide with the Internet's growing pains, We Live in Public focuses on entrepreneur, party-thrower and dot.com bubble participant Josh Harris.
  13. Film Threat
    Reviewed by: Whitney Borup
    50
    It's a fascinating look at a really weird guy who, whether you know it or not, made a profound impact on all of our lives (because who doesn't spend hours a day on YouTube?).
  14. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Nick Pinkerton
    50
    Timoner takes Harris's erratic pulse--and diagnoses society.
  15. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Betsy Sharkey
    50
    If anything, the film is a reflection of the Web zeitgeist, where observation comes easily but insight is rare. What saves the documentary from becoming a complete frustration is the sheer, stunning prescience of Harris.
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