Boogie
Focus Features | Release Date: March 5, 2021 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
53
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 24 Critic Reviews
Positive:
9
Mixed:
13
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
50
UproxxVince ManciniMar 18, 2021
The idea of a movie about an Asian-American basketball prospect is compelling enough, but Boogie is also saddled with the baggage of seemingly everything writer/director Eddie Huang thinks is cool. Some of it fits, some of it doesn’t, and lots of times his attempts at a fresh angle come off achingly corny. Read full review
58
The PlaylistWalter ChawMar 16, 2021
It’s worth a look. And as another voice added to a growing chorus of Asian-Americans who were taught to be quiet, I guess I’m glad it’s not polished, that it’s coarse and impolite. Read full review
50
New York Magazine (Vulture)Alison WillmoreMar 12, 2021
There is a maddeningly unconsidered quality to Boogie’s emotions about Asian American masculinity, and never more so than in the film’s fraught relationship with Blackness. Read full review
50
RogerEbert.comMonica CastilloMar 5, 2021
Not all the pieces of Boogie fit neatly together, but it’s a film about a family that doesn’t fit inside the box of a standard inspirational immigrant story. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliMar 5, 2021
Boogie is at times unpolished but it offers a compelling and sympathetic portrayal of the title character and avoids excessive melodrama or a too-facile ending. Read full review
50
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanMar 4, 2021
Yes, it’s a coming-of-age story: If Boogie were fully evolved, woke and enlightened, there would be no "Boogie." But the film is just rough and unformed enough to suggest that Huang might still have some growing up to do as a filmmaker, too. Read full review
70
Rolling StoneJessica KiangMar 4, 2021
As a traditional, accessible, familiarly-structured crowdpleaser, Boogie, in its modest, far-from-flawless way, challenges them to enjoy one as well. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperMar 4, 2021
Alas, the basketball scenes and the basketball talk in this basketball movie continually bounce the wrong way, and there’s no overcoming that. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleRichard WhittakerMar 4, 2021
Huang's understatement often seems flat. There's nothing visually distinctive about his depiction of diverse working class NYC, and major events bubble up with surprisingly little impact. With so much on the line, Boogie just sort of dribbles to nothingness. Read full review
60
The New York TimesTeo BugbeeMar 4, 2021
It’s a competent movie, but it doesn’t quite make it to the big leagues. Read full review
75
Movie NationRoger MooreMar 4, 2021
Every time we figure we know how this will turn out because we’ve seen 74 earlier versions of “this movie,” Huang trips us up. His flawed hero, more flawed parents and pipe dreams become our dreams, which “Big Game” or not, is all we could hope for in any sports dramedy. Read full review
40
CNNBrian LowryMar 4, 2021
A warmed-over collection of cinematic cliches that misses its shot what could have been a fertile premise, in don't-quit-your-day-job fashion. Read full review
68
TheWrapAlonso DuraldeMar 3, 2021
It’s only in assuming that we care more about Boogie’s athletic journey than his interpersonal relationships that the film falls short. Read full review
70
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Cliff LeeMar 3, 2021
Boogie is, finally, Huang’s cinematic realization of his dream, a debut filmmaker’s warts and all. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangMar 3, 2021
Boogie tries to appreciate its own contradictions, and also to complicate the audience’s expectations. It positions Boogie as an underdog of the underrepresented, a potential breakout star in an arena where the odds are stacked against him. But it also resists the temptation to turn him into an easy emblem of success, while neatly sidestepping the feel-good uplift and predictable, reconciliatory outcomes that tend to hold sway in the sports-movie genre. Read full review
58
The Film StageJared MobarakMar 3, 2021
Luckily the familial and personal stuff has the strength to stick in our heads when the battle on the court fades because the work the actors put in is effective. Read full review
70
Screen DailyTim GriersonMar 3, 2021
Sometimes marred by plot contrivances, Boogie works best when it breaks free of cliches to deliver an honest portrait of the struggles to attain the American dream. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterInkoo KangMar 3, 2021
It’s a solid first film, with a firm grasp on its melancholy but romantic tone, which never gets in the way of its propulsive momentum. Read full review
42
The A.V. ClubNoel MurrayMar 3, 2021
In basketball terms, it’s not just that Boogie’s a star player who never passes the ball. He also rarely shoots. He mostly just stands in one place, listlessly dribbling. Read full review
70
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzMar 3, 2021
There's a lot of promise here, all over the film, and not just with Takahashi and Paige. Fans of "Fresh Off the Boat" know that Huang can be funny (though he didn't like it). It's nice to see him stretch out into more dramatic territory, even if he's not quite on as sure footing there. Certainly "Boogie" makes you want to see what's next. Read full review
50
VarietyNick SchagerMar 3, 2021
Boogie is most assured when focusing on specific Chinese American routines, rituals and mindsets, yet it falters when crafting its larger portrait of Boogie’s predicament. Huang’s script routinely indulges in leaden exposition to get its message, as well as character details and dynamics, across. Read full review
25
Slant MagazineSteven ScaifeMar 3, 2021
The film’s characters hardly possess a sense of a history or an interior life to adequately convey racism’s psychic toll. Read full review
25
IndieWireRobert DanielsMar 3, 2021
What is obvious is that Huang’s Boogie is a 90-minute aimless mess that sets back as much as it saves. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleChris VognarMar 3, 2021
Boogie has some hops. But its all-around game could use a little work. Read full review
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