Laura Gabbert’s City of Gold is shapeless, but I’m a food guy and this just barely meets my threshhold for acceptable viewing.

| Jan 23, 2023

Regardless, it's a breezy delight, and the eye toward cultural exploration and open mindedness makes it hard to fault.

| Apr 3, 2020

Gold is an entertaining, enlightening guide on this food adventure, an exploration anyone can enjoy, foodie or not.

| Original Score: 4.5/5 | May 7, 2019

... in execution, the City of Gold felt more like a stale episode of The Bold and Beautiful but with Eli Roth's understudy at the helm.

| Original Score: 3/10 | Jan 23, 2019

The film is especially savvy in how well-organized it is, opening itself up gradually to those unfamiliar with either Gold or Los Angeles while giving those who hang on every word something new to chew on.

| Nov 15, 2018

It seems knowing the man is less important that knowing the work itself, and City of Gold , while often poorly shot, joyously tracks Gold's way with words and the food he chooses to describe so eloquently.

| Nov 3, 2018

The film is a poetic look at the past and present of a city much older than the recent troubles for which it is best known.

| Sep 27, 2017

This is what community is.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Sep 11, 2017

Do not go hungry to City of Gold, the tantalizing food will challenge you. It will also elicit an increased appreciation of good ethnic offerings, especially those that don't require a rich person's budget.

| Aug 30, 2017

An unalloyed success, this documentary makes the city and its subject one.

| Dec 31, 2016

City of Gold' is a sweet and charming portrait of a talented man with a big appetite -- for food, for people, for Los Angeles.

| Dec 27, 2016

While the documentary occasionally verges on hagiography... it doesn't irritate... It's just a nice movie about a nice man

| Original Score: 86/100 | Aug 26, 2016

It's really a documentary about journalism and eating, and truly appreciating both words and food.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jul 1, 2016

Be warned: if you go on an empty stomach, you will certainly not last the distance.

| Original Score: 5/5 | May 26, 2016

It's obviously fun being Gold.

Full Review | Apr 29, 2016

An impressive documentary about a Pulitzer-Prize-winning food critic who loves Los Angeles and its diversity of restaurants.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Apr 20, 2016

The film's final shots of Gold in his truck, negotiating Los Angeles traffic at sunset - "magic hour," in La La Land's dreamy lingo - drive home the film's raison d'tre: as an ode to the city, and to its most lyrical chronicler.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Apr 14, 2016

While the movie may overstate Gold's brilliance, it's still a relatively entertaining look at the world of food and food criticism.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Apr 13, 2016

So much of the food and its unassuming nature -- and especially Gold's enthusiasm for it -- is, like the film itself, very appealing indeed.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Apr 12, 2016

Although there might be a few too many items on its menu, this mouth-watering documentary uses the food culture of Los Angeles to celebrate the city's diversity.

| Apr 1, 2016