Finding Joe feels like a homemade quilt: It's warm and comforting, but visually busy, with a repeating pattern that some will find stuffy and overwhelming.
50
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
Everyone's comments are thoughtful and articulate but everyone stays "on message" so steadfastly that no dialogue ever ensues. It's 20 people giving the same lecture.
50
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
Finding Joe is so centered on the self-realization of the individual that it provokes one to contemplate the millions of oppressed, imperiled people that haven't the luxury of pursuing such an inner quest.
Campbell's career and influence encompass much wider fields of interest than are considered here, despite the picture's colorful surface. Narrowing its focus to the simplest inspirational gist, with zero insight into the man behind it, Finding Joe winds up seeming like an infomercial for a personal-growth program.
50
San Francisco ChronicleWalter Addiego
San Francisco ChronicleWalter Addiego
Campbell's admirers will probably enjoy the documentary, but I don't think it will do much for anyone else.
25
Slant MagazineChuck Bowen
Slant MagazineChuck Bowen
Finding Joe maintains that every person should, as Joseph Campbell wrote, "find your bliss," a potentially valuable nugget of wisdom that this film manages to reduce to 80 minutes of celebs giving themselves hugs.
20
Arizona RepublicRichard Nilsen
Arizona RepublicRichard Nilsen
It comprises some 20 talking heads, each pretty much saying the same thing, interspersed with film of children dressed up as mythical heroes, enacting the stages of the "hero's journey."