Albert Brooks: Defending My Life

Albert Brooks: Defending My Life is a 2023 American documentary film directed by Rob Reiner. It is a tribute to the American actor, comedian, film director, and screenwriter Albert Brooks.[1] In addition to directing the film, Reiner also interviews Brooks, revealing the two have been best friends since meeting at Beverly Hills High School. Much of the documentary is a conversation between Brooks and Reiner, who have been friends for nearly 60 years.[2] The film follows the life of Brooks from his early childhood in a showbiz family through his years in the industry.

Albert Brooks: Defending My Life
Film poster
Directed byRob Reiner
Produced by
CinematographyBarry Markowitz
Rocker Meadows
Edited byBob Joyce
Music byMarc Shaiman
Production
companies
Distributed byMax
Release dates
  • October 26, 2023 (2023-10-26) (AFI Fest)
  • November 11, 2023 (2023-11-11) (United States)
Running time
88 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Reception

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On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 97% of 32 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.3/10. The website's consensus reads: "Albert Brooks: Defending My Life offers an engrossing and suitably funny overview of its subject's career -- and one that'll leave you wanting to watch more of his work."[3] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 74 out of 100, based on 7 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[4]

Matt Zoller Seitz of RogerEbert.com gave the film three and a half out of four stars and wrote, "This film will be a treat for anyone who loves any part of Brooks' career, or all of it. And its subject is so fascinating and open-hearted that one can imagine people who've never heard his name until now getting something out of it, too."[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b Seitz, Matt Zoller (10 November 2023). "Albert Brooks: Defending My Life". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
  2. ^ Fienberg, Daniel (26 October 2023). "'Albert Brooks: Defending My Life' Review: Rob Reiner's Delightful HBO Doc Tribute Leaves You Wanting More". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
  3. ^ "Albert Brooks: Defending My Life". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
  4. ^ "Albert Brooks: Defending My Life". Metacritic. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
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