If it weren't for [Diana] Kennedy's sassy personality, the movie ... would actually be pretty dull. This is one of those laudatory celebrity documentaries where talking heads do nothing but praise the star of the movie.

| Jul 19, 2020

Nothing Fancy doesn't push quite enough at understanding what comes next, but as a presentation of Kennedy's contributions and her brusque singularity, it informs and entertains.

| Original Score: B | Jun 5, 2020

This extremely talented, smack-talking British chef informed me that I've been making my guacamole all wrong.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jun 4, 2020

What Nothing Fancy manages is an intimate exploration of Kennedy's life, home and - most importantly - hunger, which is as ferocious as it was when she began her career many decades ago.

| Jun 4, 2020

...by one measure, I can consider it a success: I bought one of Kennedy's books the very next day.

| May 31, 2020

A look at the lively life of the world's leading expert on Mexican food.

| Original Score: 5/5 | May 27, 2020

Carroll clearly admires Diana Kennedy a great deal - and part of that admiration is to capture Kennedy as she is, sometimes surly and often passionate, curious and respectful of her adopted home.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | May 25, 2020

Directed by Elizabeth Carroll, the film provides that rare, genuine look inside a private and professional life

| Original Score: 3/4 | May 24, 2020

It's about as perfect a food doc gets.

| Original Score: 8.5/10 | May 23, 2020

Foodies will marvel at the delectable dishes on display, but Kennedy is the star of her own show, and her fiercely independent attitude both inside and outside the kitchen is magnetic.

| May 23, 2020

It's a really likable documentary, even if you didn't know anything about [Diana Kennedy]... She's a really compelling subject.

| May 22, 2020

The pleasures of the film outweigh its careful reservations, mostly because Kennedy is simply too much fun to observe in her natural habitat.

| Original Score: B | May 22, 2020

A much-needed perspective.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | May 22, 2020

Carroll does more than just offer a profile of one person, however celebrated, but instead makes of this portrait a moving celebration of life in all its boundless glory.

| May 22, 2020

The fact that Carroll and her crew choose to focus on the individual makes for a more engaging narrative, but the lack of broader context sometimes feels like a missed opportunity.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | May 21, 2020

[Elizabeth] Carroll beautifully weaves this nine decade-long story into a humorous and engaging one that will make you cherish the contributions of Kennedy.

| Original Score: 4/4 | May 21, 2020

What remains is a lively and uncritical portrait of a woman as passionate about composting as chilaquiles, one who will pitch a fit if you put garlic in your guacamole.

| May 21, 2020

A vivid and inspiring profile, adoring but not adulatory.

| May 19, 2020

In this time of peril and chaos, Elizabeth Carroll's documentary is a balm for the soul.

| Original Score: 3/4 | May 17, 2020

The story of a remarkable life well-lived, Nothing Fancy is a tasteful transitional tale of what Kennedy has achieved and what it means for what she leaves behind.

| Original Score: 4/5 | May 8, 2020