40
Clapton has led a fascinating life, and is a contradictory and inspiring figure. Save for a few moments, this film just doesn’t serve him well enough.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
60
As absorbing as much of this material is, the lengthy feature does not feel definitive: It commits the typical music-doc sin of devoting nearly all its time to a celebrated first professional decade, then hastily skimming past all events since.
60
The New York Times by Glenn Kenny
As a musical biography, this comes up short; it plays substantially better as a story of recovery and recovered integrity.
75
RogerEbert.com by Godfrey Cheshire
The film does a good job conveying the excitement generated by that band as a live act, especially in San Francisco and Los Angeles. But though it produced some remarkable music, Cream’s success was short-lived.
50
The Hollywood Reporter by John DeFore
The film's title promises a story told with the tidy structure of the blues. (Either that, or it's a bad joke about Clapton's long struggle with alcoholism.) But Life proves weirdly assembled, with counterintuitive emphases.
90
Los Angeles Times by Noel Murray
Unlike most rock docs, “Life in 12 Bars” isn’t a look back from a distance. It’s like living through one man’s pain.