Gretchen Ross rec.arts.movies.reviews 2 days ago A+

As expected, one you can really SLAP your knee too

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Vinson Cunningham The New Yorker Dec 27, 2018

For all of Rock's fealty to hard fact and the disenchantments of experience, "Tamborine" is most exciting, and most unlike anything he's done before, when he gropes toward transformation.

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Ashley Hoffman TIME Magazine Nov 20, 2018

[Rock's] willingness to derail the laughs shows a newfound vulnerability-all before he brings the act safely back to a funny zone.

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Alci Rengifo Entertainment Voice Aug 29, 2018

Chris Rock returns to us with things to say and share, with humor that serves as a nice respite as we ourselves march on and endure.

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Sean L. McCarthy Decider Feb 20, 2018

Rock now recognizes the importance of learning life lessons and accepting cold hard truths about himself... That's something some of his peers and those who look up to him in comedy would be wise to listen to and heed.

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David Bianculli TV Worth Watching Feb 20, 2018

Rock, in every TV special he's ever released, manages to touch on a topic in a way, and with a fervor and intelligence, I end up remembering long afterward.

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Kyle Smith National Review Feb 16, 2018

Repackaged, Rock's set could actually make for a Peterson-style self help guide - Rock's Rules for Life.

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Andrew Husband Uproxx Feb 16, 2018

Tamborine is as intimate as it is ridiculous, and although the content of Rock's material drives this home when it needs to, the special is always ready to assist him when necessary.

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Audra Schroeder The Daily Dot Feb 15, 2018 3.5/5

This is Rock in extreme close-up, in a more intimate venue than stadiums of the past.

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Alison Herman The Ringer Feb 14, 2018

Rock has thus made his most personal special without ever getting that personal - a testament to his talents, not a criticism of them.

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Garrett Martin Paste Magazine Feb 14, 2018

There are a few missteps...but at a time when legendary stand-ups are using their multimillion dollar Netflix specials to reveal how out of touch they are with today, Rock remains as potent as ever.

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Christopher Hooton Independent (UK) Feb 14, 2018

There's pain in the jokes and it's gripping watching a man bare his soul on stage; a marked step up from the first half of Tamborine that doesn't seem to really have one.

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Matt Miller Esquire Magazine Feb 14, 2018

It's more of a therapeutic release than anything else, and if you're in the mood to just release it all with a grin, then Tamborine is crucial.

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Matt Wilstein The Daily Beast Feb 14, 2018

While he may have been brought low as a husband and father, Rock's powers as a comedian have not been diminished.

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Steve Greene IndieWire Feb 14, 2018

Tamborine is more of a look at what can be rather than what is. Looking to the future isn't what we're used to, but there are few better masters of the form to help offer a way forward.

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Aisha Harris Slate Feb 14, 2018

The energy is different, but Rock is still very funny and occasionally still provocative, if only because the culture has shifted in recent years.

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Kelly Lawler USA Today Feb 14, 2018

Tamborine is rife with political humor and pointed observations on race in Rock's usual style, but the special is mostly about Rock himself, a self-reflective piece in which he owns up to his mistakes.

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Kristen Baldwin Entertainment Weekly Feb 14, 2018 B+

Tamborine never goes too dark, nor does Rock ever truly blur the line between stand-up set and therapy session...he never loses sight of the comedy - even as he distributes the hard-earned wisdom that comes from regret.

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Dennis Perkins AV Club Feb 14, 2018 B

[Tamborine] sees Rock addressing his self-selected smaller audience with both less volume and more intimacy.

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Jason Zinoman New York Times Feb 14, 2018

He has honed this material, beefing up jokes and cutting out fat, and his comedy has become tighter, funnier if also slicker, shifting from a story of a comic struggling with demons to one describing how he once was lost and now he's found.

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