It’s a lot to pack into a seemingly unassuming little movie, but Pohlad—who also directed 2014’s superb Love & Mercy—pulls it off.

| Sep 3, 2023

[The] feelgood story of a long dormant musical dream finally realized was enough to earn major press attention, but is it enough for a feature-length film? Probably not, which is why writer-director Pohlad piled on the melodrama and leaned into clichés.

| Aug 23, 2023

It raises all kinds of familial guilt issues that are really interesting.

| Aug 17, 2023

In some ways this movie is restrained by the fact that it's a true story. If some of that could be let go, a better movie could've been had -- but it is good.

| Aug 17, 2023

Casey Affleck does strong work as Donnie Emerson...

| Aug 5, 2023

A well-cast, modestly affecting drama... it boasts a generous heart gently dusted with life’s complications as it beats a familiar rhythm of easygoing redemption.

| Aug 4, 2023

A lot of talented people give it their all, in a film that is both thoughtful and rewarding. I liked it a lot.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Aug 4, 2023

A standard biopic of a story like this could easily write itself. Thankfully, writer/director Bill Pohlad has brought their tale to the silver screen with [a] thoughtful, humanist lens.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Aug 4, 2023

Dreamin’ Wild suffers from the occasional corny moment, and some of the dialogue is too direct, tending to spell out what ought to be implied. But Mr. Affleck easily holds the film together with another captivating performance.

| Aug 3, 2023

Despite all the talent on display navigating an authentically intriguing true tale, Pohlad’s joint never quite finds its rhythm.

| Aug 3, 2023

While it can occasionally seem as though Pohlad is eking out conflict to support a narrative, the film’s restraint ultimately works in its favor, offering a thoughtful meditation on music, creativity and what it really means for talent to be “overlooked.”

| Aug 3, 2023

The elegantly underplayed performances ensure that the film never succumbs to melodrama.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jul 30, 2023

Pohlad’s sweet, slightly sorrowful film [is] the lower-key B-side to his previous one — a poignant examination of what happens when a star is conceived, but not born.

| Sep 14, 2022

There is a gentle loveliness to Pohlad’s filmmaking, everything from sun-swept Eastern Washington State vistas to teenage parties to live performances, but the heartwarming gradually overheats.

| Original Score: B- | Sep 8, 2022

The movie is itself sort of a B+, or a 7 or 8 out of 10.

| Sep 7, 2022