| 90 |
Washington Post
Ann Hornaday
Harbors some indelibly arresting images and characters whose stories, even at their most superficial, manage to be authentically inspiring.
|
| 80 |
Washington Post
Desson Thomson
This is Disney at its live-action best and brightest.
|
| 80 |
Los Angeles Times
Kevin Thomas
This is an undeniably gorgeous film, with tremendous sweep and a great feel for vast landscapes and glittering cityscapes. Schwartzberg has captured a sense of the country's grandeur.
|
| 75 |
USA Today
Claudia Puig
An old-school documentary that is both non-controversial and uplifting, America's Heart & Soul could be subtitled the Anti-Fahrenheit 9/11.
|
| 75 |
Baltimore Sun
Michael Sragow
Schwartzberg sees the homegrown innovativeness and grit still standing beneath the glossy media version of the American personality.
|
| 70 |
The New York Times
Dave Kehr
A feel-good documentary.
|
| 70 |
Variety
Ronnie Scheib
Features 20-odd valiant souls treasuring their freedom and overcoming obstacles while skycams soar over purple mountains' majesty and an acrobatic pilot does loop-de-loops over fruited plains.
|
| 67 |
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
William Arnold
Its overall impact is soothing and reassuring without being overtly manipulative, propagandistic or flag-waving.
|
| 67 |
Entertainment Weekly
Gregory Kirschling
The travelogue cinematography is often gorgeous, and the movie's folks, however hastily presented, are winning.
|
| 63 |
Philadelphia Inquirer
Steven Rea
A pumped-up, plotless montage of extraordinary landscapes, colorful wildlife, and interesting people performing feats of derring-do.
|
| 63 |
New York Daily News
Elizabeth Weitzman
There's no denying the beauty of Schwartzberg's landscapes, or the power in many of his chosen stories - from the Texas oil well fighters to the Boston father who helps his handicapped son win marathons.
|
| 63 |
Boston Globe
Wesley Morris
Schwartzberg does stumble upon some pretty fascinating people.
|
| 60 |
Village Voice
Laura Sinagra
When ditching the mawk to follow his daredevil muse, the director delivers stunning shots of cliff dancing and stunt pilotry.
|
| 60 |
The Hollywood Reporter
Kirk Honeycutt
The film would make a better fit on television or at one of Disney's theme parks. In cinemas, Heart & Soul is an odd duck, out of sync with the current generation of documentarians whose films dig deep into stories and issues the media generally overlooks.
|
| 60 |
Dallas Observer
Luke Y. Thompson
To call it a conservative or Republican film would be inaccurate: For one thing, it celebrates (gasp!) multiculturalism and diversity. For another, the closest it ever comes to expressing a political viewpoint is when a metal sculptor advocates more art education in schools.
|
| 60 |
Chicago Reader
J.R. Jones
This is supposed to be a testament to the nation's diversity, but it's so complacent that you'd never imagine said diversity is one of the greatest social challenges of the new century.
|
| 50 |
Chicago Sun-Times
Roger Ebert
Working within the limitations of the star rating system, I give four stars to the subjects of this movie, and two stars to the way they have been boiled down into cute pictures and sound bites.
|
| 50 |
New York Post
Jonathan Foreman
If Schwarzberg had chosen to concentrate on eccentrics, rural artists or people like his New York bike messenger, female aerobatic champion and California cliff dancer, "Heart and Soul" would have been a much more interesting film.
|
| 50 |
TV Guide
Ethan Alter
It's all beautifully photographed and Schwartzberg tries to capture the country's diversity despite notable omissions, as there always will be in any movie that attempts to "define" America.
|
| 50 |
LA Weekly
Jon Strickland
Despite some exciting visuals...Schwartzberg intercuts his segments with clichéd swooping helicopter shots of city skylines and desert mesas...undermining the quirky individuality he seeks to celebrate.
|
| 50 |
San Francisco Chronicle
Carla Meyer
Pretty and vague, the kind of film that might play on a loop at a county fair's Americana exhibit.
|
| 40 |
Austin Chronicle
Marrit Ingman
The real shame in the storytelling is that the people in this film are interesting and inspiring enough to warrant a real film about them.
|
| 38 |
Miami Herald
Connie Ogle
This shameless cheerleader of a documentary is the sort of propaganda you might expect in a Republican campaign ad or perhaps featured at a small theater located somewhere in Fantasyland.
|
| 10 |
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Scott Tobias
Represents apple-pie mythmaking at its most insidiously thoughtless.
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