The Automat

audience Reviews

, 86% Audience Score
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    I went to an Automat once as a child. I loved this movie. We need more documentaries similar to this.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    For most of the 20th century the automat, a diner-setting fitted only with food vending windows, was a fixture both in large cities like New York and Philadelphia as well as in pop culture. The Automat director Lisa Hurwitz introduces (or re-introduces) these ubiquitous eateries with the help of the likes of Mel Brooks, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Colin Powell recounting their own visceral and gastric connections to these cafeterias who at their peak fed nearly 800,000 people per day. One of the more interesting and enjoyable documentaries of the last decade and precisely what a good documentary should be: the presentation and preservation of a unique facet of our shared culture.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    I adored this gem of a film, especially its evocation of that welcoming, innovative and all-inclusive organization. Big-deal celebrities and national leaders sharing personal anecdotes or funny lyrics, and the rise of a business empire like none other? What's not to love?!
  • Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
    THE AUTOMAT is a charming docu about a venerable American institution and the many cultural changes that eventually led to its unfortunate demise.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    Saw this on TCM. Loved it! Great nostalgia factor.
  • Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
    This movie tells a very interesting story about a subject that isn't wildly known. The story is told in a way of bewilderment and childlike wonder that shows how incredible the Automat was for its time. The roster of interviews shows how much of an impact Horn and Hardart had on the communities where their stores and restaurants were located. The documentary does a good job of showing the decline in the success of the Automat through the decades as well as the problems that caused their system to suffer.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    This was so good I created a Rotten Tomatoes account just to praise it. The Automat experience was before my time, but I was sold on its romance after reading, "From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler" when I was 8 years old. This documentary could stand on its own without celebrity commentary, but to watch Mel Brooks, RBG, Carl Reiner, and Colin Powell share their Automat memories... it's an absolute mic drop. The story telling, the pictures, and the interviews are amazing. I may be biased (full disclosure - all of my pets are named for Blazing Saddles characters), but I can't imagine anyone watching this without a smile. Let the nostalgic fuzziness embrace you!
  • Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
    Very interesting, makes me want a slice of pie and a coffee out of that dolphin's mouth! A big issue I had was, I wanted to know more about what went on behind the wall of food boxes-was there a kitchen?? No mention is made that I heard, about the food preparation. Aside from baked good being brought in from another location, nothing is said about how the food was cooked, by who, whose recipes.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    A good documentary showing a unique part of Philly and NYC history that I didn't know about. It made me want to eat there so bad! What an epic restaurant that shaped our culture. This was well made and entertaining. It was on TCM.
  • Rating: 1.5 out of 5 stars
    Raised in the west coast, I really did not appreciate the allure to the Automat.