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AI WEIWEI: NEVER SORRYMovie Reviews
English and Mandarin language documentary about China's most famous artist and outspoken critic, who has been censored, beaten and arrested for his opinions. Cast:Changwei Gu, Evan Osnos, Ying Gao, Ai Weiwei, Huang HungDirector:Alison KlaymanRelease Date:July 27, 2012DVD Release:December 4, 2012From:IFCRating:RLength:1 hr. 31 min.
DECEMBER 4, 2012
Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry, Excellent Reviews (Doc) Key Cities
Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry played in key cities to excellent reviews. • Stephen Whitty wrote in the New Jersey Star-Ledger, "Ai's demands, such as they are – he is a conceptual artist, not a politician – are the ones reasonable people make of any dictatorship. More democracy. More freedom." • And Ty Burr wrote in the Boston Globe, "...engagingly powerful..." More Reviews Below...
Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry Positive Reviews (33 Reviews, reviews below)
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...artist and activist Ai Weiwei radiates a mischievous sense of the absurdity -- and necessity -- of one man tossing stones at a regime this gigantic."(See all of Owen Gleiberman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 140 words, 07/27/12
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NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES/CHICAGO/TORONTO (10 Reviews)
Manohla Dargis, New York Times: EXCELLENT "...galvanizing... stuffed with smart talking heads, archival material (look for him as a street portraitist in New York) and fly-on-the-wall scenes..."(See all of Manohla Dargis's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 721 words, 07/27/12
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: EXCELLENT " 'The danger is really there,' he says, 'but the danger is stronger if you don't act.' Ai walks that walk every day, and that's what makes him, and this film, so impressive."(See all of Kenneth Turan's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 808 words, 08/03/12
V.A. Musetto, New York Post: VERY GOOD(cg) "Who's afraid of the big, bad Chinese government? Certainly not Ai Weiwei, the middle-finger-waving subject of Alison Klayman's revelatory documentary..."(See all of V.A. Musetto's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 230 words, 07/27/12
John Anderson, New York Newsday: OUTSTANDING(cg) "Whether Ai is one of the braver people around is up to the viewer to decide, but regardless, this is one highly palatable documentary."(See all of John Anderson's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 318 words, 08/10/12
Murray Whyte, Toronto Star: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...accomplishes what the best works of this sort do: Take a great, compelling, widely known story and make it deeper, fuller and better."(See all of Murray Whyte's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,124 words, 07/27/12
Karina Longworth, Village Voice/LA Weekly: VERY GOOD "A valuable primer on how an artist becomes an enemy of the (closed) state he works in, 'Never Sorry' is unexpectedly substantive as a character study."(See all of Karina Longworth's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,150 words, 07/25/12
Guy Dixon, Toronto Globe & Mail: VERY GOOD(cg) "A crucially important film, a crucially important artist.... makes the case that there is really no separation between the artist and his work."(See all of Guy Dixon's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 132 words, 04/27/12
Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post: VERY GOOD(cg) "Alison Klayman's prismatic portrait of the artist is a useful primer, though it also focuses a bit more on the activism than on the art."(See all of Michael O'Sullivan's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 598 words, 07/27/12
Tirdad Derakhshani, Philadelphia Inquirer: OUTSTANDING(cg) "A remarkable, joyous piece of filmmaking... It's likely to change the way you think about art and politics and the state of China today."(See all of Tirdad Derakhshani's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 618 words, 08/10/12
Kerry Lengel, Arizona Republic: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...a fascinating portrait of an iconoclastic artist and outspoken dissident as well as a nuanced exploration of the contradictions of modern China..."(See all of Kerry Lengel's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 516 words, 08/10/12
Ty Burr, Boston Globe: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...engagingly powerful... Ai is great company to be around, funny and thoughtful and modest without selling out..."(See all of Ty Burr's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 786 words, 08/03/12
Stephen Whitty, New Jersey Star-Ledger: VERY GOOD(cg) "Ai's demands, such as they are - he is a conceptual artist, not a politician - are the ones reasonable people make of any dictatorship. More democracy. More freedom."(See all of Stephen Whitty's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 524 words, 07/27/12
Kenneth Baker, San Francisco Chronicle: VERY GOOD(cg) "...acquaints us with the man behind the decisions, an extraordinarily down-to-earth yet cosmopolitan figure, full of mischief, courage and defiance."(See all of Kenneth Baker's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 215 words, 07/27/12
Shawn Levy, Portland Oregonian: EXCELLENT(cg) "You come away with an appreciation of the abstraction, scale and daring of Ai's art and, even more, a sense of the living man in his courage, humor and restlessness."(See all of Shawn Levy's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 270 words, 08/03/12
Tom Long, Detroit News: VERY GOOD(cg) "Alison Klayman captures more than enough for a fascinating portrait of a modern artist and activist trying to make a difference within China's repressive political system."(See all of Tom Long's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 394 words, 09/07/12
Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: VERY GOOD(cg) "...the risk and the worldwide attention Weiwei has received only fuels his spirit. This fascinating, hugely inspiring movie can only help spread the word."(See all of Rene Rodriguez's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 409 words, 08/17/12
ALTERNATIVE/INDIE PRESS (9 Reviews)
Karina Longworth, Village Voice/LA Weekly: VERY GOOD "A valuable primer on how an artist becomes an enemy of the (closed) state he works in, 'Never Sorry' is unexpectedly substantive as a character study."(See all of Karina Longworth's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,150 words, 07/25/12
Peter Keough, Boston Phoenix: OUTSTANDING(cg) "Chinese activist Ai Weiwei combines the chutzpah of Michael Moore, the antic iconoclasm of Duchamp, and the humility of Gandhi, and it's not enough."(See all of Peter Keough's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 171 words, 04/18/12
Keith Phipps, AV Club: EXCELLENT(cg) "...a fully developed portrait of who Ai is, as an artist and a man. It also conveys what makes Ai's art so effective and sometimes shocking..."(See all of Keith Phipps's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 612 words, 07/26/12
Cynthia Fuchs, Pop Matters: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...even as the film offers more access to Ai than you've probably ever had, it is also about limits, specifically, the limits of what exposure can do."(See all of Cynthia Fuchs's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,049 words, 07/31/12
Andrew Schenker, Slant: VERY GOOD(cg) "...while it's anything but formally radical, the director's clear-minded approach allows her subject's more challenging aesthetic-political mix to shine through..."(See all of Andrew Schenker's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 609 words, 07/22/12
Andrew Alexander, Atlanta Creative Loafing: EXCELLENT(cg) "Ai is not a simple figure... an engrossing portrait. One gets the sense that almost any moment spent with Ai is a fascinating one..."(See all of Andrew Alexander's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 310 words, 08/24/12
Manohla Dargis, New York Times: EXCELLENT "...galvanizing... stuffed with smart talking heads, archival material (look for him as a street portraitist in New York) and fly-on-the-wall scenes..."(See all of Manohla Dargis's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 721 words, 07/27/12
Mark Jenkins, NPR: VERY GOOD "...a portrait of a brave (or simply stubborn) eccentric... Ai is a great movie subject... he understands the power of appearing larger than life on the silver screen."(See all of Mark Jenkins's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 605 words, 07/26/12
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: EXCELLENT " 'The danger is really there,' he says, 'but the danger is stronger if you don't act.' Ai walks that walk every day, and that's what makes him, and this film, so impressive."(See all of Kenneth Turan's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 808 words, 08/03/12
Andrew O'Hehir, Salon: OUTSTANDING "...must-see... about the dissident Chinese artist who is probably the most important cultural figure in the burgeoning superpower and therefore in the world."(See all of Andrew O'Hehir's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,322 words, 07/26/12
MOVIE INDUSTRY (5 Reviews)
Peter Debruge, Daily Variety: GOOD "Alison Klayman presents a significant yet scattered introduction to artist-activist Ai Weiwei, wrestling to strike the right balance between his public causes and personal life."(See all of Peter Debruge's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 726 words, 01/27/12
John DeFore, Hollywood Reporter: GOOD "...introduces viewers to a visual artist whose cultural impact in China was great enough that he spent almost three months of 2011 in jail..."(See all of John DeFore's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 441 words, 01/24/12
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: EXCELLENT " 'The danger is really there,' he says, 'but the danger is stronger if you don't act.' Ai walks that walk every day, and that's what makes him, and this film, so impressive."(See all of Kenneth Turan's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 808 words, 08/03/12
Manohla Dargis, New York Times: EXCELLENT "...galvanizing... stuffed with smart talking heads, archival material (look for him as a street portraitist in New York) and fly-on-the-wall scenes..."(See all of Manohla Dargis's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 721 words, 07/27/12
12.1 Percentage Points Average Difference Between Reviews (Norm is 18.4pp; <18.4pp = More Consistent; >18.4pp = More Mixed)
Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry's reviews are separated by an average 12.1 percentage points. The norm for this measure is 18.4 percentage points. Less than 18.4 indicates more consistent reviews; greater than 18.4 indicates more mixed reviews. In the chart below, each dot represents a review, with the dots at the top more positive than the dots at the bottom. From left to right, the dots represent reviews in big, bigger and biggest publications. Roll over each dot for more detail.
Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry (33 reviews) Roll over dots for each review
Coverage:Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry's reviews cover 37.3% of potential readers (average is 67.9%). Volume:The film's reviews total 17,222 words involume (average is 20,172 words). Length:The film's reviews average 522 words in length (the norm is 517 words).
Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry Coverage, Volume & Length (33 Reviews, reviews below)
Reviews Broke 7 Days Before Release (Norm is 1.2 Release)
Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry's reviews on average broke 7 days before opening. Norm for this measure is 1.2 hours before. The chart below shows reviews on opening day and the days before and after opening; the left side is earlier and the right side is later. The red bars extending above the horizontal mid-line represent more positive reviews, and the red bars extending below represent more negative reviews. The white space/red bar in the middle is Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry's opening day. Click on any bar for a list of the reviews for that day.
Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry (33 reviews, click on bars for reviews)
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