Roger Ebert has probably been (and still is) one of the most well-known film critics in the world. Even though I rarely read his reviews on his blog, I do own two of his books. The way he writes is fantastic to read and usually there is something to learn from his vision on a movie when compared to others. With the many years of experience he has had that doesn’t come as a surprise. During his life he watched more than 10.000 movies (as the documentary states, but my guess it would be a lot more) and you notice his passion for them. In the US he was known to a wide audience thanks to the TV show he did with Gene Siskel, which turned their “thumbs up/down” into something iconic. Ebert received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and received a Pulitzer prize for his work.

In 2002 he found out he had cancer. He had to live with it and the disease eventually cost him his lower jaw and his ability to speak and eat. Last year he died and this documentary, which borrows the title of his book with the same name, tries to show the man behind the film critic. Continue reading →