76
Metascore
16 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100Village VoiceAlan ScherstuhlVillage VoiceAlan ScherstuhlThis is a film to see and then see again, to soak in and marvel at and -- like its director -- try to keep up with.
- 91The PlaylistCharlie SchmidlinThe PlaylistCharlie SchmidlinTo his credit (and without affectation), Gondry doesn’t cloak the fact that he is often perplexed by his subject. Because of his confusion though, we are able to learn quite a lot.
- 90Los Angeles TimesBetsy SharkeyLos Angeles TimesBetsy SharkeyI don't know whether the tall man is happy, but I do know that Is the Man Who Is Tall Happy? is intellectually and visually groundbreaking, and most certainly a film.
- 88Slant MagazineSteve MacfarlaneSlant MagazineSteve MacfarlaneA magnificently quizzical diagram of two ceaselessly inquiring minds in perfect tandem, like a raw X-ray of atomized creativity.
- 80Time OutKeith UhlichTime OutKeith UhlichThe point, of course, is to get lost. As the soft-spoken sage himself notes, “The world is a very puzzling place.” What a pleasure it is, the film suggests, to be perpetually befuddled.
- 80VarietyRonnie ScheibVarietyRonnie ScheibGondry and his frisky hieroglyphs successfully convey Chomsky’s concept of language as the fleeting “meanings we impose on fragmentary experience.”
- 70The New York TimesManohla DargisThe New York TimesManohla DargisBlissfully unconventional as a documentary and as an intellectual endeavor, Is the Man Who Is Tall Happy? won’t tell you everything you’ve always wanted to know about Mr. Chomsky, but its modesty is one of its strengths, along with Mr. Gondry’s entrancing, vibrant illustrations.
- 67The A.V. ClubBen KenigsbergThe A.V. ClubBen KenigsbergBasically, Is The Man Who Is Tall Happy? amounts to two men having a mellow discussion about the nature of ideas; it’s formally limited, yet wide-ranging in its material and ambitions. Call it a case of cognitive dissonance.
- 60The DissolveNoel MurrayThe DissolveNoel MurrayEven though Gondry and Chomsky’s very different sensibilities don’t mesh in such a way that either man’s work gains substantially from the alliance, they’re each such good company individually that Is The Man Who Is Tall Happy? is still entertaining.