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It Might Get Loud (2009)

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All Critics
Top Critics

Average Rating: 6.9/10
Reviews Counted: 107
Fresh: 85 | Rotten: 22

An affectionate tribute to rock's most distinctive instrument, It Might Get Loud is insightful and musically satisfying.

Average Rating: 6.9/10
Critic Reviews: 24
Fresh: 17 | Rotten: 7

An affectionate tribute to rock's most distinctive instrument, It Might Get Loud is insightful and musically satisfying.

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Average Rating: 3.9/5
User Ratings: 17,033

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Movie Info

Academy Award-winning An Inconvenient Truth director Davis Guggenheim focuses his probing lens on a subject that's decidedly less urgent but no less fascinating with this look at the electric guitar featuring Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page, U2's the Edge, and the White Stripes' Jack White. Growing up, all three guitarists realized their rebellion through music: Page was attempting to subvert the sugary-sweet pop music of the 1960s, the Edge was hell-bent on making the guitar solos of the 1970s a

PG, 1 hr. 38 min.

Musical & Performing Arts, Documentary

Directed By: Davis Guggenheim

In Theaters: Aug 14, 2009 Wide

On DVD: Dec 22, 2009

Box Office:$1.2M

Sony Pictures Classics

It Might Get Loud Trailer & Photos

More Photos (17)

Cast

Critic Reviews for It Might Get Loud

All Critics (107) | Top Critics (24) | Fresh (85) | Rotten (22) | DVD (2)

Guitar heroes, real or imaginary, will think they've died and gone to heaven.

September 25, 2009 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader

| Comment

J. R. Jones

Chicago Reader

Top Critic

The trouble is, once you get past the historical information and chummy interviews, you have to put up with the inevitable risk of any ad-hoc jam session: It Might Get Boring.

September 25, 2009 Full Review Source: Globe and Mail

| Comment (1)

Liam Lacey

Globe and Mail

Top Critic

Davis Guggenheim's contrived documentary is a largely unrewarding essay on the mystique of the ubiquitous electric guitar...

September 25, 2009 Full Review Source: Toronto Star

| Comment

Greg Quill

Toronto Star

Top Critic

Rock fans and Guitar Heroes in the making will get a charge out of visiting where the happy accidents that put guitars into each man's hand happened. And the playing isn't bad, either. Loud. But good.

September 23, 2009 Full Review Source: Orlando Sentinel

| Comment

Roger Moore

Orlando Sentinel

Top Critic

For guitar geeks, the sight of Page, Edge and White together in one room will be enough. Others, however, can't help but wish it might have gotten a little louder.

September 18, 2009 Full Review Source: Detroit News

| Comment

Adam Graham

Detroit News

Top Critic

While that sounds like a fantasy for rock aficionados, the scenes lack dramatic tension or cinematic enlightenment. It just kind of happens, and then the all-star jam fades to black, leaving few remnants of the filmmakers' initial intentions.

September 4, 2009 Full Review Source: Denver Post

| Comment

Ricardo Baca

Denver Post

Top Critic

Turn up the volume.

August 29, 2011 Full Review Source: East Bay Express

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Kelly Vance

East Bay Express

there are some lovely moments in the film simply due to the high profile reputations of the three musicians

August 26, 2011 Full Review Source: Cinemania

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Dan Jardine

Cinemania

Guggenheim's depictions of his subjects' artistic development will strike universal chords in anyone who finds meaning in creativity.

February 1, 2011 Full Review Source: Las Vegas CityLife

| Comment

Matt Kelemen

Las Vegas CityLife Source: Las Vegas CityLife

Watching this film, we are utterly gripped as we hear the stories of three rock guitar legends and then see them interacting with each other. Yet while there's never a dull moment, the film still feels a bit random.

January 8, 2010 Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall

| Comment

Rich Cline

Shadows on the Wall

The mood's too good-spirited, and in that there are great pleasures - not least the sound-of-mind thinking of three rockers putting paid to the tired clich� of burbling rock gods trapped in their own shadows.

January 8, 2010 Full Review Source: Empire Magazine

| Comment

Ian Nathan

Empire Magazine

The film might have benefited from a trim and a more linear approach, but mostly it fulfils its role as an illuminating homage to both the protagonists involved and, above all, the guitar as popular music's most timeless icon.

January 8, 2010 Full Review Source: Time Out

| Comment

Derek Adams

Time Out

For guitar freaks and fans of these guys, the film gives you a unique chance to hang out with some real guitar heroes.

January 8, 2010 Full Review Source: Times [UK]

| Comment

Cosmo Landesman

Times [UK]

A bizarre follow-up to the fifth biggest cinema documentary of all time, and one that's as testing on the patience as a 10-minute guitar solo with extra tremolo.

January 8, 2010 Full Review Source: Guardian [UK]

| Comments (5)

Andrew Pulver

Guardian [UK]

It's artfully assembled in an unflashy manner.

January 8, 2010 Full Review Source: Observer [UK]

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Philip French

Observer [UK]

It's never less than a compelling watch as the trio of turbo-charged troubadours swap anecdotes.

January 8, 2010 Full Review Source: Sky Movies

| Comment

Tim Evans

Sky Movies

Guggenheim's attempts to inject some drama hit a bum note while the climactic summit between the three axe gods is let down by a lack of chemistry, resulting in more of a cheerful jam than a headline act.

January 8, 2010 Full Review Source: Total Film

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Total Film

Fellow players and aspiring rock gods will thrill at the scenes of the trio jamming together, but Guggenheim's film never takes an insular "muso" view and has plenty to offer the lay person.

January 8, 2010 Full Review Source: Radio Times

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Terry Staunton

Radio Times

If you're a fan of any of their bands, rock music or the electric guitar, you'll find a lot to love here.

January 8, 2010 Full Review Source: Sun Online

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Alex Zane

Sun Online

Even for me, a rock illiterate, this is interesting.

January 8, 2010 Full Review Source: Financial Times

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Nigel Andrews

Financial Times

The film gets up close and personal, proving that each is a musician first and a rock 'n' roll star afterwards.

January 8, 2010 Full Review Source: This is London

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This is London

The film seems a bit too in thrall to U2, which means far too much time is devoted to The Edge at the expense of watching Page fire through some of his thunderous Led Zeppelin riffs.

January 8, 2010 Full Review Source: Scotsman

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Alistair Harkness

Scotsman

The personal stories are informative, interesting and nicely illustrated but the central meeting between the three men lacks both passion and personality.

January 7, 2010 Full Review Source: ViewLondon

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Matthew Turner

ViewLondon

More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for It Might Get Loud

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Alrighty! It is that time again - Documentary time. It Might Get Loud. I saw this particular documentary about year ago but just had to watch it again this weekend. Why? Well, because this one is about music. Although movies are my number one passion, (obviously) music is my second. If I am awake 16 hours a day I am

September 15, 2011

Tired of Previews

Super Reviewer

The White Stripes' Jack White, Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page and U2's The Edge explore the enduring appeal of the electric guitar. With White, on the one hand, bemoaning technology as a "big destroyer of emotion and truth" and The Edge, conversely, enthusing that effects units "have always pushed music

August 15, 2009