What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael

When talking about Pauline Kael, her most severe antagonists have a hard time separating who she was from what she wrote. Don't get me wrong, I have in my library all of Kael's books. I collect books by other reviewers. I have to admit that I frequently loved a movie that she tore apart: 2001: A Space Odyssey is an example of one of many. But imagine reading only positive comments about your favorites. How dull would that be. This documentary is decently done, but it only scratches the surface of who she was. It did fill in some information about how she came to be as a critic. It gave us a bit of biographical information. The best parts were her interviews with various talk show people, like Dick Cavett. I did feel sorry for David Lean whose movie, Ryan's Daughter, she criticized to his face at a "friendly" gathering. I don't defend some of her animus, but I would recommend what another reviewer suggested. A good deal of her work is in print. Read that and judge.