Harvey G. Cox Tempo (National Council of Churches) Jan 7, 2021

[It's] a disturbing repristination of Chicago 1968... It is also an attempt to indict the media for its reportorial coolness and detachment from pain and reality. In its first objective it succeeds brilliantly. I am not sure it does so in its second.

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Tom Meek Cambridge Day Oct 3, 2020 4/4

A plucky, hybrid film...

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Rocco T. Thompson Screen Rant Jun 22, 2020

As relevant and timely as ever, Medium Cool is a masterclass in using real-life footage for narrative propulsion and remains one of the most influential documentaries of all time.

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Nathanael Hood Unseen Films Jun 22, 2020 7/10

As a document of 1968 America's psyche it's irreplaceable.

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Richard Whitehall Los Angeles Free Press Jan 17, 2020

Haskell Wexler has always been a pretty good cameraman, one of the best around, and indications are he's going to be just as good a director.

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Don Shanahan 25YL (25 Years Later) Aug 5, 2019 4/5

Still rings with relevance and importance today as much as it did 50 years ago.

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Penelope Houston The Spectator Jul 9, 2018

This brilliantly uneasy film has a sharp enough sense of its own paradoxes to shake off as naive the very questions it raises.

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Walter Chaw Film Freak Central Jul 31, 2013 4/4

The film doesn't exactly end, because it's not so much a narrative as it is a mile-marker and a warning.

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Eric Melin Scene-Stealers.com Jun 17, 2013 3/4

Despite the 1968 conflict(s) dating the film to a very specific time and place in American history, there's nothing that can't be applied to what's going on today, especially with the new relevance of video images on computers and handheld devices.

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Jay Antani Cinema Writer Aug 20, 2010 3.5/4

a quintessential late-60s time capsule piece

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Cole Smithey ColeSmithey.com Aug 3, 2010 A+

Wexler may have been going after something "cool," but what he came up with is smoking hot cinema that puts Jean-Luc Goddard to shame.

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Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews Aug 22, 2008 B

An interesting time capsule essay film that takes us back to the infamous 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago and its police riot.

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Steve Crum Video-Reviewmaster.com Mar 23, 2008 5/5

The mass media message is still relevant in this groundbreaking 1969 film.

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Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Mar 18, 2008 A

Blending fact and fiction, Wexler's seminal zeitgeist docu-drama, shot during the Chicago riots of 1968, raises intriguing questions, just like Antonioni's Blow-Up.

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Chuck O'Leary FulvueDrive-in.com May 7, 2007 2/5

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Craig Phillips GreenCine Aug 11, 2005 4/5

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Jules Brenner Cinema Signals Jun 26, 2005 3/5

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Vincent Canby New York Times May 9, 2005 3.5/5

Medium Cool is an awkward and even pretentious movie, but, like the report of the President's National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, it has an importance that has nothing to do with literature.

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Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times Oct 23, 2004 4/4

Moviemakers have at last figured out how bright the average moviegoer is. By that I don't mean they're making more 'intelligent' pictures. I mean they understand how quickly we can catch onto things.

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Carol Cling Las Vegas Review-Journal Aug 27, 2004 5/5

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