Critic Reviews

• Alexis Loinaz, Chicago Tribune

  McCarroll is as cocky and cantankerous as he is compelling, which leads to a glut of histrionic moments, including spectacular scuffles with his publicists and his staff.

• Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer

  McCarroll comes off as a likable and talented guy, amazingly calm as the Big Moment arrives and the guy making his models' shoes is nowhere to be found.

• Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

  Even if you've never heard of Project Runway, the battle between art and wicked compromise never goes out of style.

• Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor

  The dynamics of fashioning low-end fashion are amusing but a little of McCarroll goes a long way.

• David Wiegand, San Francisco Chronicle

  For general audiences, it could use a bit of, ahem, tailoring - taking in here and there.

• Lou Lumenick, New York Post

  Though this is the rare documentary that admirably admits recording "reality" on film actually shapes how people behave under the camera's gaze, I think Eleven Minutes is going to appeal mostly to hard-core fashionistas.

• Richard Knight, Windy City Times

  Jay McCarroll is surprisingly endearing in a familiar fashion doc.

• Chris Barsanti, Filmcritic.com

  ...a more real piece of work than one would expect.

• Avi Offer, NYC Movie Guru

  A well-edited and moderately fascinating documentary lacking in truly illuminating and profound insights.

• John P. McCarthy, Boxoffice Magazine

  A decent behind-the-scenes look at the fashion world, a serviceable primer on what it takes to conceive, execute and present a collection and a diverting introduction to an entertaining personality.

• Natasha Vargas-Cooper, E! Online

  A superbly crafted, bargain-budget documentary that profiles a fascinating underdog and skillfully explores the troubled territory between reality TV and reality.

• Scott Tobias, AV Club

  Eleven Minutes is better when the cameras stay on McCarroll and allow him to voice his extreme ambivalence about being a reality-TV creation, and about the industry and his place within it. As ever, he plays the consummate outsider to perfection.

• Edward Douglas, ComingSoon.net

  The process for putting on a high-profile fashion show seems endlessly fascinating even if it's hard to find reason to care about Jay McCarroll as the film's central subject.

• Doris Toumarkine, Film Journal International

  This delirious, delicious, deconstructing look at the recent real-world entry into fashion of reality-TV's first "Project Runway" winner Jay McCarroll should round up the usual suspects of gay, style-conscious viewers and many others eager for a good time

Read all 14 critic reviews