Searching for Sugar Man

The Hollywood Reporter by

While all the interview subjects are enthusiastic, the overall lack of familiarity with Rodriquez's personal background and career collapse begin to drag.

Empire by Anna Smith

Music fans will love this indie documentary. Try to avoid Googling him before you watch, though.

Variety by Dennis Harvey

A winning musical detective story about a failed, forgotten early '70s rocker.

Time Out by Joshua Rothkopf

So why is this songwriter, so articulate on vinyl, so vague and spacey in current-day interviews? Something happened here, deeper than an aborted quest for fame, and the documentary hasn't gotten to it.

Entertainment Weekly by Lisa Schwarzbaum

The yarn is too irresistible: We're fed plenty of sugar in this authorized fairy tale, but are left hungry for beef.

The A.V. Club by Nathan Rabin

Though unabashedly manipulative in its storytelling and structure, Searching For Sugar Man ultimately earns its happy ending and buzzy, crowd-pleasing populist appeal by alchemizing trembling inner-city pain into transcendent international beauty.

Boxoffice Magazine by Ray Greene

Like "Anvil," this is a crowd-pleasing triumph of the spirit, framed around a story so bizarre it sounds like an urban legend.