Movie Review for Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten

Summary: An invitation from Joe Strummer, the Punk Rock Warlord himself, to journey beyond the myth to the heart and voice of a generation.

                         Reviews of Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten
By Ty Burr of Boston Globe (7/0)
            Suffused with clear-eyed affection for its subject and times, this is not your little brother's p...

By Chad Greene of Boxoffice Magazine (7/0)
            Joe Strummer may have sung 'I'm So Bored with the U.S.A.,' but American audiences will be anythin...

By Cole Smithey of ColeSmithey.com (7/0)
            The great thing about the cumulative effect of the documentary is its ability to give the audienc...

By Jeffrey M. Anderson of Combustible Celluloid (7/0)
            It's a great story arc, and this alone makes the movie worth seeing, but Temple's filmmaking may ...

By Edward Douglas of ComingSoon.net (7/0)
            Anyone who's ever been a fan of the Clash or Strummer's music should be fascinated by this compre...

By Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly (7/0)
            The Future Is Unwritten captures the Joe Strummer who, in the late 1970s, just about firebombed t...

                         Reviews of Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten
By Lewis Beale of Film Journal International (7/0)
            Julian Temple has paid proper homage to one of rock's most important artists.

By Jeremy Mathews of Film Threat (7/0)
            [Director] Temple succeeds in creating a portrait neither glowing nor damning, but representative...

By Chris Barsanti of filmcritic.com (7/0)
            a loving filmic portrait

By Beth Accomando of KPBS.org (7/0)
            The end result is a documentary that feels very insider and exclusive... it's probably best suite...

By Pete Hammond of Maxim (7/0)
            A remarkably well-detailed doc that proves 'Rock The Casbah' is not just that song from the cell ...

By Geoff Berkshire of Metromix.com (7/0)
            [Julien Temple's] insider's point of view both helps and hurts the film.

                         Reviews of Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten
By A. O. Scott of New York Times (7/0)
            Leaves behind a surprising afterglow and allows you to appreciate Joe Strummer’s warmth.

By Noel Murray of Onion AV Club (7/0)
            The Future Is Unwritten is as overstuffed as Sandinista!, but it races ahead like 'White Riot.'

By Dan DeLuca of Philadelphia Inquirer (7/0)
            Julian Temple has done cinematic justice to the punk humanist born John Graham Mellor.

By Jon Popick of Planet Sick-Boy (7/0)
            Little else we've not been exposed to in the last handful of years.

By Jessica Letkemann of Premiere Magazine (7/0)
            Director Julien Temple examines Strummer's life and motivations with a flair for unearthing endle...

By Pam Grady of Reel.com (7/0)
            Temple picked a winner in his subject matter. Strummer is always compelling and charismatic, whic...

                         Reviews of Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten
By Andrew O'Hehir of Salon.com (7/0)
            Celebrates Strummer's fecundity and self-invention and honors his reticence and private despair, ...

By Sean Means of Salt Lake Tribune (7/0)
            Indulgent celebrity interviews..., repetitive details from Strummer's friends, and rapid-fire edi...

By Tom Keogh of Seattle Times (7/0)
            Temple's film offers a rich, detailed portrait of a commanding but idealistic Strummer against th...

By Nick Schager of Slant Magazine (7/0)
            I've never cared for Joe Strummer and The Clash, but Julien Temple's Joe Strummer: The Future is ...

By Ken Fox of TV Guide's Movie Guide (7/0)
            Little sense of the band's import or power is ever communicated. Instead, Temple devotes the enti...

By Robert Koehler of Variety (7/0)
            The late punk rock legend Joe Strummer is rendered fully human in Julian Temple's engrossing and ...

                         Reviews of Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten
By Jim Ridley of Village Voice (7/0)
            The Future Is Unwritten is less a eulogy than a wake, and one in which the subject is startlingly...

By Greg Kot of Chicago Tribune (3/4) No reference
            The singer's life is compressed into a two-hour montage of interviews, vintage video snippets and...

By Rafer Guzman of Newsday (3/4) No reference
            [Director Temple's] documentary can be quite clear-eyed, especially when exploring Strummer's les...

By Shawn Levy of Oregonian (3/4) No reference
            Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten is that rarest of movie biographies: a warts-and-all explor...

By Jim Harrington of Contra Costa Times (3/4) Not Reachable
            Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten is a film for fans -- really big fans. More-casual admirers...

Movie Distributors
IFC Films

Production Companies
Nitrate Films
Hanway Films
Sony BMG Music Entertainment
Film4
Parallel Film Productions Ltd.

Movie Studios