My Kid Could Paint That

Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips

It is a wonder, marked by a sense of wondrous skepticism that has nothing to do with cynicism.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker

It's a dissection of how the media found and fed and nurtured the story in their insatiable need for content to fill their news hours and talk shows, how it just as quickly turned on them and transformed the story from celebration to vilification, and how the public turned right along with them.

Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer

Amir Bar-Lev's documentary is fascinating on all kinds of levels: as a movie about the nature of art, the lure and pitfalls of celebrity, and the complicated conundrums of parenting.

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

Amir Bar-Lev's engrossing film is as much about the stubborn ambiguities of art, truth, meaning, and relationships as it is about the authenticity of the Olmstead oeuvre.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Noel Murray

When others can't see what parents see, there's an inescapable ache. As much as anything, My Kid Could Paint That is about that ache.

Film Threat Sally Foster

Aside from being a captivating and highly interesting film, Bar-Lev's My Kid Could Paint That is also something extremely rare – a piece of honest journalism.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

Bar-Lev also explores the freakish popular appeal of child prodigies, the family dynamics that come into play when a child's celebrity and earning capacity overshadows the adults', and the remarkably conflicted and contradictory admissions drawn from Brunelli about Marla's work.

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

Features entertainingly brainy musings from New York Times art critic Michael Kimmelman, and comments from child psychologists, friends and Marla collectors.

Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy

The result is a true conundrum: You can't say for sure if a scam is in play or if a genuine genius is being smeared. And the brilliance of the film is that it doesn't let you feel secure in choosing either side.

Dallas Observer Robert Wilonsky

My Kid Could Paint That's about art—and it IS art, among the best documentaries ever made about that elusive process of manufacturing something out of nothing. But it's also a must-see for every single parent who believes their children are special, when all they want to be is your children.

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones

The mystery has never been resolved, but to his credit Bar-Lev acknowledges that he himself has become part of the story, torn between sympathy and suspicion.

Empire Will Lawrence

A highly engaging documentary that recounts a remarkable tale. Young Marla is clearly talented, but so too is her father…

Miami Herald Connie Ogle

Documentary gold, and you will have formed an opinion on the controversy by the time you leave the theater. You may not know art, but you'll know what you like.

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

Because Bar-Lev fails to go the extra mile either as a filmmaker or a friend, My Kid Could Paint That is at best "documentary silver."

San Francisco Chronicle Kenneth Baker

No one emerges unpunished.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey

The winner of this year's audience award for best documentary at Sundance has it all: heartless media, art fraud and a four-year-old painting prodigy.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

In the last analysis, I guess it all reduces to taste and instinct. Some paintings are good, says me, or says you, and some are bad. Some paintings could be painted by a child, some couldn't be.

New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman

Everyone involved, from Marla's defensive parents to the cynical journalists who promoted and then turned on her, seems to have some sort of agenda.

Variety Dennis Harvey

The popular human-interest story of a child prodigy becomes an engrossing meditation on truth, media exploitation and the value of art in My Kid Could Paint That.

Village Voice Nathan Lee

What began as a human-interest story for filmmaker Amir Bar-Lev led down stranger paths than the Duchampian conundrums of modern art.

New York Post Kyle Smith

Struggles to maintain a sober, evenhanded tone about an utterly ridiculous story.

The Hollywood Reporter James Greenberg

The film and the controversy should generate interest at the boxoffice, but it's more a story about media manipulation and parental responsibility than art.

The New York Times A.O. Scott

Mr. Bar-Lev has made an excellent documentary, but it would have been better if he had not made it at all.

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

The longer it goes, the more frustrating it becomes, as Bar Lev declines to come down on one side or the other.

Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten

My conclusion is that exploitation of a child for the sake of one's career is a shameful act.