Dear Mr. Watterson 2013

Sara Stewart, New York Post: It was one of the greats of the now-nearly-defunct Sunday funnies, no doubt. Unfortunately, there's not much cinematic magic in watching the director reading the strip, or hearing various other enthusiasts talk about how much they loved it. Read more

Bilge Ebiri, New York Magazine/Vulture: It would make a nice supplement to the real thing, maybe a bonus disc when you purchase the Calvin & Hobbes Collection or something. But it never justifies its own existence. Read more

Peter Debruge, Variety: Everything you'd expect from a crowd-sourced documentary, designed to celebrate its subject, while mostly just validating the aesthetic taste of its backers. Read more

A.A. Dowd, AV Club: Should any non-converted souls manage to stumble into Dear Mr. Watterson, the onscreen samples should be enough to stoke their curiosity. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: An hour and a half of hero worship, basically. Fine by me. Read more

Gary Goldstein, Los Angeles Times: Offers not only an in-depth look at the comic strip's unique influence but also a concise snapshot of the dwindling state of newspapers and their "funny pages." Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: Schroeder isn't as interesting as his subject - he isn't even very interesting on his subject - and he eats up a lot of screentime. Read more

Ian Buckwalter, NPR: If nothing else, it's a pleasant reminder that if you haven't taken those Calvin & Hobbes anthologies off the shelf in a while, maybe it's time to go exploring again. Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: Your money would be better used - and Schroeder's points better made - if you spent it on any "Calvin and Hobbes" collection instead. Read more

Nicolas Rapold, New York Times: At one point, someone marvels at Calvin's sheer "lust for life," and while Mr. Schroeder, no doubt, has a parallel fascination with his favorite comic strip, the film doesn't follow through. Read more

Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com: Any "Calvin and Hobbes" fan will enjoy watching Schroeder's film, which is more a love letter to the strip and its publicity-shy creator than anything else. Read more

Dave McGinn, Globe and Mail: If you're a fan of Calvin and Hobbes, director Joel Allen Schroeder's documentary Dear Mr. Watterson is more or less pure joy. Read more

Keith Uhlich, Time Out: The talking-head testimonials are mostly preach-to-the-choir gush, and the score by one-man band We Were Pirates grates with its sprightly sentiment. Read more

Stephanie Zacharek, Village Voice: Most people hold dearly to the memory of certain things they loved as kids, but those much-fingered scraps of security blanket aren't always enough to hold a documentary together. Read more