Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry 2012

Manohla Dargis, New York Times: The fluidity and convenience of digital moviemaking tools explain some of its freshness, as does Ms. Klayman's history as a budding documentarian. Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: The film's greatest distinction is its intimacy. Read more

Michael Upchurch, Seattle Times: A sobering, cautionary tale. Read more

Keith Phipps, AV Club: As much as Never Sorry reveals about its central subject, it reveals just as much about the place where he lives, and the way demands for freedom find methods to limbo under oppression. Read more

Kerry Lengel, Arizona Republic: Using archival footage dating back to Ai's adventures in the New York art world in his 20s, Klayman traces his evolution as a creator and as an activist. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: One of the most engagingly powerful movies of the year almost completely on the strength of Ai's rumpled charisma and the confusion it creates in the bureaucratic mindset of the Chinese Communist Party. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: Ai admits that he's become "a brand for liberal thinking and individualism," though that's nothing to be ashamed of -- at this point, his Warholian talent for self-promotion may be the only thing keeping him alive. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: Though he has paid the price, Ai is a pathfinder in this new phenomenon in tactical insurrection. Never Sorry is a new-style profile in 21st-century courage. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: A fascinating portrait of a modern artist and activist trying to make a difference within China's repressive political system. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: He radiates a mischievous sense of the absurdity - and necessity - of one man tossing stones at a regime this gigantic. Read more

John DeFore, Hollywood Reporter: Doc about dissident artist is long on political friction, short on art. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: The story is enthralling, but it's not over, and there's no telling where it's going. Which makes what we see on screen all the more involving. Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: The film's recurring theme is of an artist on a perpetual hunt for transparency, in his country and abroad. Read more

John Anderson, Newsday: A movie that somehow mixes apprehension for Ai with a feeling of warmth and, certainly, fun. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: As this sometimes haphazard documentary shows, Ai won't stop talking. Or blogging. Or tweeting. Read more

Mark Jenkins, NPR: Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry is a portrait of a brave (or simply stubborn) eccentric in action. Read more

John Powers, NPR: Offers a good introduction to the career of this fascinating man who is no shrinking violet. Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: One can't help wishing the subject would make his own, more complex cinematic self-portrait. But for now, Klayman has provided a valuable introduction to a man everyone should know. Read more

V.A. Musetto, New York Post: Klayman had full access to Ai, 55, following him around for two years. The sweetest footage involves Ai and his mother. Read more

Tirdad Derakhshani, Philadelphia Inquirer: It's likely to change the way you think about art and politics and the state of China today. Read more

Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com: Ai Weiwei is a crucial figure of East-West cultural communication and contemporary history, whose middle finger extended at the centers of power stands for a rising tide of global discontent. Read more

Kenneth Baker, San Francisco Chronicle: Klayman acquaints us with the man behind the decisions, an extraordinarily down-to-earth yet cosmopolitan figure, full of mischief, courage and defiance. Read more

Mary Abbe, Minneapolis Star Tribune: Affable and unpretentious, Ai comes across as a cagey operator whose candor is very appealing. Read more

Guy Dixon, Globe and Mail: He may still seem enigmatic, but we don't need to know his deepest thoughts. The intensity of his daily life and the persecution he continues to face is more than enough to understand who he is and what he is enduring. Read more

Dave Calhoun, Time Out: In terms of getting his message out to a wider audience, this film simply and effectively serves as part of the cause. Read more

Keith Uhlich, Time Out: His spiritedness makes the darker places his story goes all the more affectingly tragic. Read more

Murray Whyte, Toronto Star: Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry accomplishes what the best works of this sort do: Take a great, compelling, widely known story and make it deeper, fuller and better. Read more

Peter Debruge, Variety: The film is a good start, but such an important artist deserves a more rigorous portrait. Read more

Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post: A useful primer, though it also focuses a bit more on the activism than on the art. Read more