72
Metascore
8 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 83The Film StageOrla SmithThe Film StageOrla SmithNo Ordinary Man is ultimately a melancholy look at how far things have or have not come for trans people since Billy Tipton’s death.
- 80The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Brad WheelerThe Globe and Mail (Toronto)Brad WheelerTender, topical and well-crafted, No Ordinary Man is no ordinary film.
- 80Los Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinLos Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinThis is a compelling, often profound film, one that creatively surmounts its inherent limitations and shines a vital and heartfelt light on being transgender.
- 80TheWrapElizabeth WeitzmanTheWrapElizabeth WeitzmanA fascinating deconstruction of history, culture, and identity, No Ordinary Man raises so many crucial questions — and answers them so thoughtfully — that it moves beyond entertainment into the realm of essential text. It belongs, equally, in theaters, streaming queues, and classrooms.
- 80The New YorkerRichard BrodyThe New YorkerRichard BrodyNo Ordinary Man challenges the very basis of cultural production, eschewing the familiar accumulation of biographical and historical information and instead questioning the process by which such information is gathered.
- 75RogerEbert.comCarlos AguilarRogerEbert.comCarlos AguilarCo-directors Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt exalt the professional and personal life of Jazz musician Billy Tipton in No Ordinary Man, and avoid simplification of the trans masculine experience.
- 70The New York TimesTeo BugbeeThe New York TimesTeo BugbeeThis is a respectful tribute that is a shade too morally and cinematically safe in its execution.
- 25San Francisco ChronicleG. Allen JohnsonSan Francisco ChronicleG. Allen JohnsonThere’s one big problem about No Ordinary Man: The Billy Tipton Documentary: It’s not really about Billy Tipton. Instead, it’s about how transgender representation is perceived in the media, chiefly between 1989, when Tipton died, and current times.