67
Metascore
15 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100The Hollywood ReporterDuane ByrgeThe Hollywood ReporterDuane ByrgeA gloriously inspirational film documenting music’s healing power in Alzheimer patients.
- 90Village VoiceNick SchagerVillage VoiceNick SchagerPractically guaranteed to elicit tears within its first five minutes, Alive Inside... is nonetheless more than just a tearjerker.
- 75Washington PostMichael O'SullivanWashington PostMichael O'SullivanAs the movie makes clear, none of these conditions are reversible. Music isn’t a cure for anything. But it does seem to be a key to unlocking long-closed doors and establishing connections with people who have become, through age or infirmity, imprisoned inside themselves.
- 70VarietyRob NelsonVarietyRob NelsonRossato-Bennett’s over-the-top narration often sounds cloying and banal... But the filmmaker succeeds in providing context, medical and historical, in between awakenings.
- 63Slant MagazineSlant MagazineThe doc is heartwarming, but it doesn't delve deeply into the backstories that inform the ailing patients' connection to the music that stirs their memories.
- 60The DissolveAndrew LapinThe DissolveAndrew LapinCohen’s goal—to bring music to every nursing home—is modest, and the film is smart to follow his lead by keeping bombastic rhetoric to a minimum. Strangely, though, the movie lacks any discussion of professional music therapists, who have been doing this kind of work for decades.
- 58The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloThe A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloAlive Inside runs a brisk 78 minutes, but that’s still far more time than it requires to make its point; once you’ve seen a couple of old people suddenly come to life upon hearing “I Get Around” or “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You,” there’s not much to be gained by being presented with half a dozen more instances.
- 50The New York TimesNicolas RapoldThe New York TimesNicolas RapoldNeither the value of music nor the deficiencies of certain nursing homes are tough to debate. But a documentary that never leaves any doubt about what comes next, while single-mindedly stumping for a cause presented as unique, is also not terribly interesting as a film.
- A passionate documentary with a lot of valuable information to impart, and a laudable humanist agenda to push. Unfortunately, it’s also not a particularly good movie. In fact, at certain points it can be an actively annoying one.