Critic Reviews
| 100 |
Chicago Tribune
The self-taught man behind the griddle, his wife, Eve, and their five seen-it-all kids emerge as the ensemble of the year.
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| 83 |
Entertainment Weekly
The result is an unabashedly home-cooked homage to New York eccentricity.
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| 80 |
The Hollywood Reporter
James Greenberg
A rare, hilarious and ultimately touching look at the kind of American iconoclast that barely exists anymore.
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| 75 |
TV Guide
Shopsin is a small piece of New York history, and Mahurin's film is the portrait he deserves: small, noisy and oddly engaging beneath the bluster.
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| 75 |
New York Post
Using a hand-held microphone, Mahurin captures the burly, middle-age, salty-tongued cook philosophizing nonstop as he individually prepares mouth-watering high-cholesterol meals from a 900-item menu over a stove he has put together himself.
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| 75 |
New York Daily News
Anyone who laments the loss of an older, grittier New York ought to adore this affectionate portrait of Greenwich Village restaurant owner Kenny Shopsin.
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| 70 |
Chicago Reader
This quirky 2004 documentary ends with the Shopsins' forced relocation after 32 years, an uprooting made all the more poignant by Eve's death during filming.
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| 70 |
Variety
Charming character study.
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| 70 |
Village Voice
Rob Nelson
A curiously tasty dish, one that could leave even a vegan with a burning desire to sample Shopsin's lamb chops.
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| 60 |
Film Threat
Staff (Not credited)
I was desperate to eat at Shopsin's by the end.
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| 50 |
The New York Times
Mr. Mahurin is obviously enchanted by his subject, but he never gets past his delight to say anything of real, sustaining interest.
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