Critic Reviews
| 80 |
Chicago Reader
What promises to be a standard postmortem on 60s ideology becomes a thoughtful essay on the choices we all make between work, family, and personal freedom.
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| 75 |
Portland Oregonian
Perhaps Following Sean is as much of a cultural oddity as "Sean" itself turned out to be. But it's a decidedly interesting one nonetheless.
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| 75 |
San Francisco Chronicle
At its exhilarating best, Following Sean is reminiscent of the lauded British documentaries that began with "7 Up.''
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| 75 |
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
If Arlyck's own life feels unworthy of the attention, Sean's illuminating, unconventional and contemporary story makes up for it.
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| 70 |
Washington Post
You won't be disappointed, and you will be deeply, quietly moved.
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| 70 |
The Hollywood Reporter
Sura Wood
Arlyck's artful use of "then and now" images illustrates the relentlessness with which time moves forward. Youth is, indeed, elusive. His seductive film is a retrieval mission and, as such, it is ineffably sad.
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| 70 |
Village Voice
Drew Tillman
Arlyck's compulsion is to our great fortune. Patient and elegant, his film is a quietly devastating meditation on family, work, and the unrelenting passage of time.
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| 70 |
The New York Times
Nathan Lee
What emerges is a liberal meditation on freedom and compromise, and a nostalgia trip graced by eloquent restraint.
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| 70 |
LA Weekly
Steven Mikulan
Sean's grandfather was the colorful longshore Communist Archie Brown, and part of the film's charm lies in its evocation of a generational mural that includes old Marxists, flower children and the progeny of red-diaper babies.
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| 70 |
Los Angeles Times
What emerges from Arlyck's musings is a penetrating cinematic essay on how generations in the last century struggled to take hold of history and reconfigure the shape of daily life.
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| 63 |
Boston Globe
If ''Sean" was about conviction and revolution, Following Sean is about ambivalence and resignation. In either case it's pretty easy for a funny-provocative kid to stand out.
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| 50 |
Variety
As fascinating as it is frustrating.
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| 38 |
New York Post
Arlyck spends more time following himself and his own lefty family than checking up on Sean.
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