Critic Reviews

• Jane Sumner, Dallas Morning News

  An amazing, worthy journey.

• Robert Denerstein, Denver Rocky Mountain News

  Provides an overview of Bukowski's work and allows us to gaze into the soul of a man who built a fortress of toughness around his vulnerable core.

• Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post

  The filmmaker knows when to shift the rhythm of his investigation. The authenticity of art is woven with the artifice of life.

• John Hartl, Seattle Times

  Over a period of seven years, Dullaghan interviewed hundreds of people who knew or were affected by Bukowski. The result is both wide-ranging and intimate.

• Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

  How much was legend, how much was pose, how much was real? I think it was all real, and the documentary suggests as much.

• Allison Benedikt, Chicago Tribune

  Dullaghan's raw and defining documentary about the man -- and the myth.

• Felix Vasquez Jr., Cinema Crazed

  We witness Bukowski warts and all in his worst, in his best, and at his most violent--and we still love him for it.

• Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews

  This thorough documentary is essential for the poet's fans.

• Matt McKillop, Filmcritic.com

  there is plenty of conflict to be found in the Bukowski's life and work, yet little of it makes its way into Born into This

• Duane Dudek, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

  [Bukowski] is never seen in less than fighting spirit or formidable form throughout the documentary Bukowski: Born into This.

• Louis Proyect, rec.arts.movies.reviews

  Loving tribute to an American original

• Marc Savlov, Austin Chronicle

  Dullaghan uncovers the human being behind the myth, thanks again to old footage.

• Robert Wilonsky, Dallas Observer

  Born Into This, its title taken from one of his poems, is a remarkable movie, because, like Crumb or even American Splendor, it adores the very people most of us might ignore if they passed us on the street.

• Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone, TheMovieChicks.com

  You get to see more of the down side of the man than the genius of his work, it almost falls into that 'too much information' category.

• Jay Antani, Los Angeles Alternative

  a loving tribute to a writer, his craft and, above all, the idea of living and dying by one's own creed

• Rex Roberts, Film Journal International

  Bukowski would be better served by a critical examination of his life, one which gets past the sentimental façade of an artist who played the roué to keep from tasting the bitterness (as Stephen Crane once put it) of his own heart.

• David Elliott, San Diego Union-Tribune

  Has the right, Bukowskian approach: Just tell it, just show it, no fancy dancing.

Read all 17 critic reviews