60
The approach is pretty conventional, but the characters – from unassuming singer Ibrahim Ferrer to wonderfully glamorous Omara Portuondo – are so brilliant you’d struggle not to be swept up in it all.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
80
The New York Times by Glenn Kenny
It’s not as poetic or immediately enjoyable as the first film. But it is tougher and more analytical, with real challenges embedded in its pleasures.
90
Los Angeles Times by Katie Walsh
Beautiful gems of wisdom and life lessons are contained within Buena Vista Social Club: Adios. The picture is an edifying celebration of this music, humanizing and contextualizing it beyond its popularity, locating its roots within a history informed by politics, colonialism, oppression, and racism.
63
Slant Magazine by Keith Watson
Adios may deepen our understanding of these musicians and their world, but it never quite stands on its own.
50
RogerEbert.com by Matt Zoller Seitz
Unfortunately, Lucy Walker's Buena Vista Social Club: Adios plays more like a well-intentioned but unsatisfying addendum to Wenders' movie and Cooder's recording.
58
The A.V. Club by Mike D'Angelo
Adios serves as a loving tribute to their memory, but has little else to offer that the original film didn’t provide.