Life Itself

Audience Reviews

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Stephen C @bob25009 Apr 21, 2026 Rated R for Language and Brief Sexual Images/Nudity. See more

Tom W @TexOracle Jan 5, 2026 Great homage to a great critic, from a time when critics were credible and honest in their trade, unlike today’s foils for leftwing ideology putting a political lens any way possible. Ebert a class act from a time of professionals and integrity. See more

MariofanAlex445 T @RT47678067 May 12, 2025 Ironic that the one film he never got to see was about him. See more

David F @dfulmer Mar 16, 2025 This is a really good documentary about the film critic Roger Ebert. It really captures his personality and his evolution as a Midwesterner who turned to journalism early in his life, then channeled his political beliefs into a populist brand of film criticism that appeared in newspapers and on television, reaching a mass audience. The film doesn’t flinch from his prickly personality and his clashes with Gene Siskel, another newspaper film critic who appeared on the same movie review TV show as Ebert. I remember watching their show as a kid - it helped me to develop my interest in film and this documentary fills in the background of how it came to be and the role it played for so many years in the film promotion and exhibition industry. This film is a great look at a fascinating personality, a nostalgic look back at a world where newspapers and TV were more influential, and a nice portrait of a time before Rotten Tomatoes when a thumbs up or down from a newspaper film critic in Chicago could influence movie goers to head out to a movie theater. See more

Feb 13, 2025 Life Itself is a terrific documentary film that was released in 2014 and it chronicles the life of the most famous if not the most famous, one of the most famous professional film critics of all time, Roger Joseph Ebert. Who wrote movie reviews professionally for The Chicago SunTimes and was the only major film critic at the time to ever win and receive a Pulitzer Prize award. I found this movie to be very insightful and it taught me not only more about Roger Ebert's life, but about how important film criticism is in general. It's very interesting to see in this documentary movie about how times were different before the internet and social media. One of the things that this movie taught me is that back in the 1950s-1990s time frame and such the average movie goer and the film buffs had no outlet to voice their opinions and have themselves heard. But now a days with the internet and social media everyone has multiple outlets on different website platforms and social media sites, which has changed the film and tv industries in huge ways. I also felt like this documentary made me go through all sorts of emotions, happy, funny, sad and surprised. Which is what a lot of movies in different genres are supposed to do with the audiences and viewers who are watching. This movie is worth checking out, especially if you're a movie buff and you have a strong passion and interest in films. This is easily in my top 10 list of the best documentary movies ever made. Some documentaries are absolutely boring and unwatchable, but this one is amazing, and it should've won more awards, like best documentary or something like that. I love how Martin Scorsese makes an appearance in the documentary since he was on the tv Show that Roger Ebert did back in the day. I highly recommend this one for all movie buffs and movie lovers alike. This is definitely a documentary movie that is not to be missed. See more

Bailey Giannini Feb 13, 2025 Life Itself is a terrific documentary film that was released in 2014 and it chronicles the life of the most famous if not the most famous, one of the most famous professional film critics of all time, Roger Joseph Ebert. Who wrote movie reviews professionally for The Chicago SunTimes and was the only major film critic at the time to ever win and receive a Pulitzer Prize award. I found this movie to be very insightful and it taught me not only more about Roger Ebert's life, but about how important film criticism is in general. It's very interesting to see in this documentary movie about how times were different before the internet and social media. One of the things that this movie taught me is that back in the 1950s-1990s time frame and such the average movie goer and the film buffs had no outlet to voice their opinions and have themselves heard. But now a days with the internet and social media everyone has multiple outlets on different website platforms and social media sites, which has changed the film and tv industries in huge ways. I also felt like this documentary made me go through all sorts of emotions, happy, funny, sad and surprised. Which is what a lot of movies in different genres are supposed to do with the audiences and viewers who are watching. This movie is worth checking out, especially if you're a movie buff and you have a strong passion and interest in films. This is easily in my top 10 list of the best documentary movies ever made. Some documentaries are absolutely boring and unwatchable, but this one is amazing, and it should've won more awards, like best documentary or something like that. I love how Martin Scorsese makes an appearance in the documentary since he was on the tv Show that Roger Ebert did back in the day. I highly recommend this one for all movie buffs and movie lovers alike. This is definitely a documentary movie that is not to be missed. See more

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Life Itself

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