70
Metascore
20 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 95TheWrapCarlos AguilarTheWrapCarlos AguilarLópez Estrada and company not only subvert lazy assumptions about their misunderstood metropolis and who lives and thrives there, but they also entirely shift the focus to the unheard and unseen for a wonderful reinvention. You’ll never see L.A. the same again and that’s for the better.
- 80Film ThreatAlan NgFilm ThreatAlan NgUltimately the success of Summertime comes from director Estrada and his crew, who put the film together with a small semblance of a story. They masterfully piece each poem and poet together like a jigsaw puzzle.
- 80Screen DailyTim GriersonScreen DailyTim GriersonThe result is a deeply touching tapestry that celebrates the diversity and cultural richness of LA, while at the same time exploring the hopes and fears of a generation heading into an uncertain adulthood.
- 80VarietyPeter DebrugeVarietyPeter DebrugeThis fleet-footed, kaleidoscopic showcase is all about finding your voice so that the world can start to appreciate what it doesn’t know about those it hears from far too seldom.
- 80Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzArizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzIt’s experimental in the best way; Estrada takes chances, and not every segment works. But pieced together they tell a full and rich tale of a city and the people who live there, and the diversity of their stories.
- 75The Film StageDan MeccaThe Film StageDan MeccaFrankly, this is content that makes one feel a bit better about the future. All the poems may not connect, all of the performances may not stick, and the ending may play a bit more maudlin than intended, but the energy on display and the goodness therein should be enough to melt the coldest of hearts.
- 67The A.V. ClubA.A. DowdThe A.V. ClubA.A. DowdBy its nature, the film is uneven—Estrada shares screenwriting duty with a whopping 25 poets, and as with any poetry slam, some performances are better than others, both in terms of the words themselves and in the highly variable acting abilities of these mostly first-time stars.
- 50The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeThe Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeWhile this hodgepodge contains the occasional lovely or eloquent moment, as one would expect after Estrada's captivating 2018 Sundance debut Blindspotting, those are overshadowed by material that grates on all but the most forgiving ear, in a semi-narrative setting that clearly just cares about getting from one aria to the next.
- 50SlashfilmBen PearsonSlashfilmBen PearsonIt’s a soulful slice of life movie, but one that has so many slices that you end up with multiple pizzas by the time the end credits roll. And hey, everyone loves pizza, right? But when you have a belly full of it, you can look back and realize that there is such a thing as too much. One thing’s for sure: you won’t see another movie like it this year.
- 50The New York TimesTeo BugbeeThe New York TimesTeo BugbeeThe most successful sequences are the ones that find new ways of illustrating the meaning of a poem besides lingering on the face of the performer uttering purposefully syncopated and painstakingly intonated lines.