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France, Germany · 2016
Rated R · 1h 28m
Director Thorsten Schütte
Starring Frank Zappa, Theodore Bikel, Arlene Francis, Keith Moon
Genre Music, Documentary
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Thorsten Schütte’s film celebrates Frank Zappa through his public persona. Potent TV interviews and many forgotten performances from his 30-year career immerse us in the musician’s world. Zappa was a charismatic composer who reveled in the joy of performing and, in the next moment, an intelligent and brutally honest interviewee whose convictions grew stronger as his career ascended.
Thorsten Schutte’s entirely archival assemblage is most likely to be appreciated by the previously converted, as its stimulating if somewhat patchy overview of a multi-various career skims over or omits too many aspects to comprise a definitive introduction.
Wall Street Journal by Joe Morgenstern
Asked to define his job, Zappa gives a simple answer with convincing sincerity: “I’m an entertainer.” Simplicity gives way to intriguing complexity as the film covers other things Zappa was.
The Guardian by Jordan Hoffman
Eat That Question does a good job of giving us just a taste of nearly every era in Zappa’s multifaceted career.
Los Angeles Times by Kenneth Turan
If this labor-of-love portrait is any indication, forgetting Frank Zappa is not going to happen any time soon.
Quotable, controversial, anarchic, charismatic and handsome (in an ugly way), the zany avant-garde rocker Frank Zappa had everything one needs to be a star, except talent.
The Hollywood Reporter by Leslie Felperin
A compelling gateway documentary that should absorb both fans and novices alike.
If there’s one major criticism to level at Eat That Question, it’s that Schütte too often satisfies fans of Zappa’s personality at the expense of those who prefer his music.
The Playlist by Oktay Ege Kozak
By focusing entirely on Zappa’s outlook on his own work and the way it related to the outside world, Schütte manages to form a tight narrative around this fascinating man.
It presents a captivating portrait of one of the era's greatest defenders of artistic freedom and a true American original.
It’s a documentary concocted out of decades of film and TV interviews — some confrontational, some awkward, often quite funny.
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