Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me 2013

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: [A] feisty portrait of the musical-theater legend. Read more

Sara Stewart, New York Post: A generous and hilarious portrait of life as an aging legend. Read more

Rex Reed, New York Observer: Ms. Stritch is sharp, funny, brittle, caustic, demanding, exaggerated, critical (especially of herself) and infuriating. She is also elaborately unique and awesomely brilliant. Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: "I Feel Pretty," from "West Side Story," was written for an ingenue, not a grande dame in her ninth decade, but she sings it with delicious irony, self-irony and irrepressible delight. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: You watch "Shoot Me" wishing this woman could keep sashaying through her showbiz life forever ... Read more

Scott Foundas, Variety: A superior celebrity docu that finds the Broadway legend contemplating retirement as well as her own mortality. Read more

Todd VanDerWerff, AV Club: The chief pleasures of Shoot Me-and there are many-come from watching Stritch navigate her day-to-day life. Read more

Randy Cordova, Arizona Republic: She is more than a little abrasive in the finished documentary, yet she is also compulsively watchable. No wonder she's a star. Read more

Jake Coyle, Associated Press: An irresistibly entertaining documentary that captures Stritch during what she unsentimentally calls ''almost post-time.'' Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: The movie's a portrait of tough yet vulnerable woman fighting age with everything she's got, giving in, getting scared, fighting some more. Read more

Ben Sachs, Chicago Reader: This profile of stage and screen veteran Elaine Stritch, shot during her 87th year, isn't a documentary so much as an improvised star vehicle; she plays to the camera through the entire movie and puts on a hell of a show. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: I suppose it helps to have seen Stritch onstage to fully appreciate the bracing new documentary "Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me," released by Sundance Selects. I wish I'd seen more. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: An enjoyably fawning documentary. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: "Elaine Stritch" is filled with bluster and memories, blunt outbursts and funny moments. But more importantly, it is filled with honesty. Read more

David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter: A fond farewell to a Broadway Baby as she closes a door on her remarkable career... at least for now. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: Formidable, indomitable, irascible: Pick your adjective, and it pretty much describes the force of nature who holds the stage in "Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me." Read more

John Anderson, Newsday: Chiemi Karasawa deserves all the credit in the world for the intimate and hilarious portrait that is Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me, a sparkling cocktail of music and memoir. On the other hand, she didn't exactly have to drag her subject out of her shell. Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: Every would-be director of a celebrity biography should be required to watch Chiemi Karasawa's delightful example. Read more

Stephen Holden, New York Times: On a deeper level, "Shoot Me" is an unflinchingly honest examination of a woman who is aware that the end is approaching. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: Stritch, in her trademark billowy white blouses and skinny black tights, or in bed, without makeup and without, sometimes, a lucid notion, reveals herself to be full of opposing emotions and desires. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: Cheers to a movie as gloriously entertaining and bluntly honest as the lady herself. Everybody rise. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: Really, the experience of "Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me" is the experience of being in Stritch's company for 80 minutes, and that's fine. Still I doubt anyone will walk out of this film wishing it were 10 minutes longer. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: What a tough, difficult, talented old broad. Read more

Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: By the end, even those who had never heard of Stritch can share her rage against the dying of the light. Read more

Bill Zwecker, Chicago Sun-Times: This is a must-see for anyone who loves theater, acting and especially individuals like Elaine Stritch unafraid to bare their souls -- so all of us can gain more insight into the complicated essence of the human condition. Read more

Alonso Duralde, TheWrap: Follows the groundwork laid out by the recent Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work, alternating between look-where-she's-been historical footage and look-at-her-go glimpses of her current busy schedule. Read more

Keith Uhlich, Time Out: It's gratifying beyond words to witness this consummate performer as she feeds off an audience's energy, turning flubs and forgetfulness continually to her advantage. Read more

Alan Scherstuhl, Village Voice: As much a playdate as portrait, a jumble of salty highlights attesting to the pleasure of her company. Read more

David Edelstein, New York Magazine/Vulture: One of those showbiz docs that's not exactly pleasurable but offers a penetrating glimpse - sometimes too penetrating - into what it means to eat, drink, and be contrary in the public sphere. Read more

Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post: Elaine Stritch's strength, along with the film's, comes from her honesty. She is herself, even when - maybe especially when - she knows she's being watched. Read more