69
Metascore
10 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 80The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyThe Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyIt’s an engaging blitz of nostalgia guaranteed to leave core viewers misty-eyed.
- 80CNNBrian LowryCNNBrian LowryLionel Richie serves as the de facto tour guide for this trip down memory lane, which fulfills its promise to make a better day (or at least 90-some-odd minutes) for you and me.
- 75RogerEbert.comBrian TallericoRogerEbert.comBrian TallericoThe good news is that it largely breaks the trend of mediocre rock docs through specificity, being at its best when it’s granular in the process of the recording, including some lyrical near-misses, some personality conflicts in the room, and even one participant who liked a bit too much wine.
- 75Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperChicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperDirected by Bao Nguyen, who expertly combines the multi-camera recordings from the night of the session with new interviews with Richie, Cyndi Lauper, Kenny Loggins, Huey Lewis, Smokey Robinson and Bruce Springsteen, as well as technicians who were there, “The Greatest Night in Pop” is a terrific behind-the-scenes chronicle of the making of a single that sold 20 million copies worldwide, won multiple Grammys and, most important, of course, raised more than $60 million in 1985 dollars.
- 74PolygonAusten GoslinPolygonAusten GoslinThe footage-forward approach does make the whole thing tremendously fun to watch.
- 70The Daily BeastNick SchagerThe Daily BeastNick SchagerAs far as celebratory backward glances go, it’s compelling enough to temporarily brighten one’s day.
- 70The New York TimesGlenn KennyThe New York TimesGlenn KennyWhile the making of the song was partially detailed in its long-form video, there’s plenty of new, engaging, and sometimes eyebrow-raising anecdotal material here.
- 70New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriNew York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriThe anecdotes are mostly on brand for the musicians.
- 60ColliderRoss BonaimeColliderRoss BonaimeThe Greatest Night in Pop is a worthy story in its own right, but a bit more of the director's touch could've done justice to this gigantic achievement of pop music history.
- 58IndieWireDavid EhrlichIndieWireDavid EhrlichWhile The Greatest Night in Pop may not amount to anything more than a sanitized and somewhat masturbatory look back at one of the wildest get-togethers in the modern history of music (the film doesn’t offer any commentary deeper than “isn’t it so fucking crazy that this happened, and that we have it all on tape?”), there’s no denying that it’s a lot of fun to watch it all go down.