It's not just for Batiste fans. There have been few better movies about the creative process.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jan 31, 2024

This is a film that captures how art isn’t just how we heal; it’s how we live.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Dec 6, 2023

While some of the backstage material has an official feel, the documentary does not shy from showing private moments.

| Nov 30, 2023

Both Batiste and Jaouad put their faith and trust in Heineman, and the result is a candid testament to an unconditional love that’s threatened by cancer but defined by one remarkable couple’s commitment to get through it together.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Nov 30, 2023

American Symphony plays more like a series of snapshots than a complete picture -- or perhaps more aptly, an unfinished symphony punctuated by lovely, graceful notes.

| Nov 29, 2023

This is off base for [director Matthew Heineman], but he brings this great cinematic scale to it.

| Nov 29, 2023

A very good examination of how you deal with the highs and lows as a creative artist.

| Nov 29, 2023

It’s once American Symphony begins harmonizing these highs and lows, adding minor-key grace notes to its major-chord melody voicings, that it not only finds its voice but begins to transcend being “just” a making-of doc.

| Nov 28, 2023

Moving and musical, this is a striking portrait of courage and creativity in the face of some horrific odds chucked at you by life’s lottery.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 27, 2023

While it covers a lot of ground, it rarely digs deep.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Nov 22, 2023

The latter sections of “American Symphony” feel like a film checking off boxes from Batiste’s year in 2022.

| Original Score: C+ | Sep 4, 2023

A sometimes joyful, sometimes somber celebration of spirit.

| Sep 1, 2023

[A] warm and lovely film...

| Sep 1, 2023

“American Symphony” is about the creation of art in the face of pressure, tragedy and heartbreak, and about the tension between the glory of creation and the pain of living. It manages to capture the glory but it never ignores the price.

| Sep 1, 2023