Finding Vivian Maier 2014

Chris Nashawaty, Entertainment Weekly: More connect-the-dots detective thriller than traditional doc, John Maloof and Charlie Siskel's revelatory riddle of a film unmasks a brilliant photographer who hid in plain sight for decades Read more

Farran Smith Nehme, New York Post: The movie's true power comes from her images, by turns melancholy, sympathetic, funny and sharp. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: Maier's work, interspersed throughout the film, lets us hear her voice: an array of faces gazing at us, meeting her camera, creating a tiny moment in time. Read more

Rob Nelson, Variety: An aptly obsessive study of obsession. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: Through dogged research and interviews with the (now-grown) children Maier cared for, along with their parents (including Phil Donahue), a profile emerges, and it's fascinating. Read more

Mark Feeney, Boston Globe: This is an amazing tale, and Maloof has labored mightily to flesh it out. He's almost as odd as Maier was. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: The portrait Maloof and Siskel assemble here from the scant information available suggests that her fanatical privacy was the darkroom in which her distinctive artistic personality was developed. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: The movie does nearly everything right in its chosen, compact, 83-minute form. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: Maier is a great artist who discounted adulation entirely. Her life was a masquerade; her genius, quite literally, was unexposed. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: Every time one of her photos flashes on the screen, the woman's genius is undeniable. Read more

Boyd van Hoeij, Hollywood Reporter: A sleekly assembled and intriguing project, if clearly a very commercial proposition. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: What we find out about Maier, revealed in self-portraits as a striking woman with a singular sense of self, is fascinating. Read more

John Anderson, Newsday: Directors John Maloof and Charlie Siskel do a lot with what they have -- but they also had a lot to work with. Read more

Anthony Lane, New Yorker: An unlikely tale, well told. Read more

Ella Taylor, NPR: Self-taught and roaming free in the city, Vivian Maier captured the remarkable in the ordinary. Read more

Manohla Dargis, New York Times: An exciting electric current of discovery runs through "Finding Vivian Maier," a documentary about a street photographer who never exhibited her work. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: Finding Vivian Maier is a find in more ways than one. Read more

Walter V. Addiego, San Francisco Chronicle: The film functions best as an introduction to her work, which is what matters, and an invitation to see more of it, which is highly recommended. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: This may be the most pleasurable 83 minutes you will spend in a theater this year. Read more

Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: The holes in the story are papered over with such beautiful photographs that few viewers could complain. Read more

Adam Nayman, Globe and Mail: A self-styled outsider artist comes into focus in Finding Vivian Maier, a striking documentary undertaken after one of its directors bought a nondescript box of photo negatives at a garage sale. Read more

Linda Barnard, Toronto Star: Most revealing are the interviews with the now-grown kids who were in Maier's care, who accompanied her as she made trips from their suburban homes to often-dodgy areas of Chicago so she could take photos. Read more

Keith Uhlich, Time Out: Maloof (a very aggravating onscreen presence) tries way too hard to force Maier's genius down our throat: His outrage at the snootily dismissive art-world establishment, however genuine, comes off like a childish tantrum. Read more

Ernest Hardy, Village Voice: Haunting and powerful despite its boilerplate documentary form ... Read more

Jerry Saltz, New York Magazine/Vulture: Maloof and co-director Charlie Siskel peel back her layers, allowing us to see where her creative universe came from, how she functioned, what she made. Read more

Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: A film that leaves a large part of its subject's mystery gratifyingly intact. Read more