56
Metascore
8 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 80VarietyJoe LeydonVarietyJoe Leydon“Portrait” abounds in the sort of ironies and contrasts that can make a biodoc fascinating even to auds totally unfamiliar with its subject.
- 70Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleLos Angeles TimesRobert AbeleThe movie is itself rough around the edges, notably in some chintzy attempts at animating pulp graphics. But it's briskly pieced together from interviews and archival footage.
- 70The DissolveNathan RabinThe DissolveNathan RabinAfter an unpromising beginning, Iceberg Slim develops into a thorny, engaging exploration of the strange twilight and late-in-life fame of a bona fide American outlaw.
- 63Slant MagazineSlant MagazineIt threatens to succumb to hero worship, but Jorge Hinojosa wisely subverts Slim's mythos by pulling the curtain back on it in the doc's second half by revealing the man beneath.
- 60Time OutTime OutBeck’s widow, his ex-wife and three daughters paint the man as someone whose success only complicated his life, estranging him from his family and eventually saddling him with crippling inertia. Pimping ain’t easy, but going straight is no picnic, either.
- Though directed with some flourishes, including a riveting use of music and attractive animated pulp art, the film is weighed down by the testimony of bespectacled professors from hip critical studies and English departments and a psychologist.
- 50New York PostFarran Smith NehmeNew York PostFarran Smith NehmeBeck expressed dismay that “Pimp” was taken as a glamorization of his life, and not a warning. By omitting the experiences of the women who worked for him, the filmmakers risk the same thing.
- 30Village VoiceNick SchagerVillage VoiceNick SchagerIntentions and effect are at odds throughout Jorge Hinojosa's one-note documentary.