78
Metascore
19 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 91The PlaylistRodrigo PerezThe PlaylistRodrigo PerezIt’s a beautiful tribute and a wonderful farewell to a legend, father, and artist.
- 83The Film StageMichael FrankThe Film StageMichael FrankSr. is sweet and tender, never playing as a dolled-up version of this relationship; it instead depicts a trueness in this bond, a warmth that has existed all of their lives. The sounds that echo after the film ends are the Downeys laughing together––about dumb stuff, about film references, about the past, about their present, about anything and everything.
- 80The Hollywood ReporterStephen FarberThe Hollywood ReporterStephen FarberPerhaps inevitably, the film moves toward a deeply poignant conclusion, but there are enough rambunctious and slightly zonked-out moments to provide a vivid, full-blooded portrait.
- 80VarietyPeter DebrugeVarietyPeter DebrugeSr. packs a wallop in the end, when it comes time for father and son to say goodbye.
- 80Film ThreatAlex SavelievFilm ThreatAlex SavelievAs it progresses – and Smith cunningly makes it feel like the film attains a life of its own, guided not by directorial hands but by fate itself – Sr. becomes a touching ode to a formidable individual whose countercultural comedies influenced generations of filmmakers.
- 80The GuardianPeter BradshawThe GuardianPeter BradshawThis is a tender tribute.
- 75San Francisco ChronicleG. Allen JohnsonSan Francisco ChronicleG. Allen JohnsonSr. is elegiac in tone, often moving, with moments of irreverence and humor.
- 70Los Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinLos Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinSr. proves a tender portrait and fitting tribute to an offbeat hero and creative pioneer.
- 67IndieWireVikram MurthiIndieWireVikram MurthiSr. serves a few too many thematic masters, trying to be multiple different films at once without ever committing to any of them, but anyone who has any emotional investment in Robert Downey Sr.’s rebellious body of work will at least appreciate how he tries his best to make one last movie in his own image.
- 60IGNSiddhant AdlakhaIGNSiddhant AdlakhaWhile it’s hard not to be moved by footage of Robert Downey’s final days, the film is more informative than emotional. It contains hints of an intimate story, but mostly flattens a strange and exotic career into a series of light observations.