Kathy Fennessy Seattle Film Blog Feb 4, 2024 3/4

Instead of a hagiography filled with kind words from old chums, boxer-turned-filmmaker Jay Bulger's documentary, Beware of Mr. Baker, revels in opportunities to present drummer Ginger Baker in all his asshole glory.

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Daniel Green CineVue Feb 25, 2019 4/5

A deceptively unconventional rock 'n' roll tale of drink, drugs, drums and ponies, Bulger's Beware of Mr. Baker saddens as much as it elates.

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Kelly Jane Torrance Washington Examiner Dec 17, 2018 3/4

As jaw-dropping as Ginger Baker's drumming is, the man himself is even more rattling.

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Pat Padua DCist Aug 30, 2018

The kind of august rogue who threatens to put his director in hospital and punches him in the face with a cane-and makes him like it.

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Benjamin H. Smith Decider Apr 30, 2018

...essential viewing for classic rock fans and anyone who loves a good rogue of questionable moral character, undeniable talent and a road case full of excellent stories.

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Matthew Bond The Mail on Sunday (UK) Oct 31, 2017 4/5

What makes this an excellent music doc is the sadness that comes through the madness.

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Larushka Ivan-Zadeh metro.co.uk Sep 5, 2017 4/5

A cracking story, buzzily edited, this warts-and-warts portrait delivers an illuminating insight into recent rock history. Don't miss it.

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Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews Dec 15, 2013 B

An entertaining doc on the volatile but great jazz and rock drummer, the controversial London born Ginger Baker.

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Philip French Observer (UK) May 18, 2013

The constantly gripping film is adroitly assembled.

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Graham Young Birmingham Mail May 17, 2013 5/5

With no preconceptions, I found this to be one of the films of the year - an extraordinary story about an even more astonishing talent.

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Charlotte O'Sullivan London Evening Standard May 17, 2013 4/5

Bleakly entertaining, Beware of Mr Baker neither eulogises nor patronises its subject; one day (though possibly not soon), Baker may take it upon himself to say thanks.

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Tim Robey Daily Telegraph (UK) May 16, 2013 3/5

It's a broadly forgiving portrait of an impossible, irascible talent, who seems to have treated life much like his instrument.

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Peter Bradshaw Guardian May 16, 2013 4/5

We are always being told that books and movies have to have "sympathetic" lead characters - well, here's a documentary that does very well without one.

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Mark Asch Little White Lies May 16, 2013 3/5

An interesting character study interspersed with classic rock, jazz and Afrobeat clips. Nothing more, but certainly nothing less.

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Michael Bonner Uncut Magazine [UK] May 16, 2013 8/10

Entertaining documentary about the notoriously cantankerous drummer...

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Nigel Andrews Financial Times May 16, 2013 4/5

It's all insanely enjoyable.

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Matthew Turner ViewLondon May 15, 2013 4/5

Searingly honest and ultimately deeply moving, this is a fascinating portrait of notoriously antisocial former Cream drummer Ginger Baker, now 73 and still raging.

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Dave Calhoun Time Out May 14, 2013 4/5

It's refreshing to watch a music doc, especially one with such intimate access to its subject, in which barely anyone is unreservedly polite about the person in question.

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Patrick Peters Empire Magazine May 12, 2013 4/5

A juicy slice of rock history.

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Tom Dawson Total Film May 10, 2013 4/5

A fascinating rockumentary that pays tribute to its subject's impressive musical odyssey, while illustrating the enormous emotional costs he's incurred along the way.

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