54
Metascore
20 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 75The PlaylistKevin JagernauthThe PlaylistKevin JagernauthThe 90-minute documentary doesn't pretend to be anything more than it is: a love letter to a great comic, providing a digestible version of its history with an eye to its legacy.
- 70Los Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinLos Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinThe film, named for "Calvin" creator Bill Watterson, offers not only an in-depth look at the comic strip's unique influence but also a concise snapshot of the dwindling state of newspapers and their "funny pages."
- 67The A.V. ClubA.A. DowdThe A.V. ClubA.A. DowdJust as it’s impossible to capture in a 600-word review what made Calvin And Hobbes so special, no 100-minute film on the subject can really hope to convey its magic either. But Dear Mr. Watterson does its best, relying on choice excerpts of the work and enthusiastic talking-head interviews.
- 63Slant MagazineSlant MagazineThough it begins by spending far too much time talking up the comic's quality, it gradually finds a groove as an incisive portrait of an insecure industry.
- 60Time OutKeith UhlichTime OutKeith UhlichStill, if any modern strip is worthy of an extended, Hobbes-style tongue bath, it’s this one.
- 60The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckThe Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckFor all its fandom and self-indulgence, Dear Mr. Watterson does offer some insightful musings about the decline of comic strips in general, with their content ever shrinking due to the diminished state of the newspaper industry.
- 50Village VoiceStephanie ZacharekVillage VoiceStephanie Zacharek[A] heartfelt but largely inarticulate documentary.
- 50The DissolveNoel MurrayThe DissolveNoel MurrayToo much of Dear Mr. Watterson is taken up by Schroeder and an array of non-professional C&H-lovers offering vague praise, with little to no real analysis—aesthetic, historical, or cultural.
- 50SalonAndrew O'HehirSalonAndrew O'HehirSchroeder isn’t much of a comic-strip expert or historian, by his own admission, so Dear Mr. Watterson bounces off many of the most interesting issues in and around “Calvin and Hobbes,” noticing them but not exploring them deeply.
- 40New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanNew York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanThe deeply private, intensely ideological and undeniably brilliant Watterson would make an absolutely fascinating subject. But director Joel Allen Schroeder has no access to him. So instead he talks a lot about how much he loves “Calvin and Hobbes” and then invites other fans to do the same.