The problem isn't really finding Fela, but containing him.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Sep 12, 2014

Gibney unearths a wealth of archive footage that reaffirms Kuti's superstar status, and watches as Jones wrestles with the contradictions that made the musician such a troublesome icon - confronting some, sidestepping others.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Sep 7, 2014

Fela died in the late 1990s but Gibney has assembled plenty of footage of him performing, and he makes a convincing case for him as both a political and a musical visionary (and a relentless womaniser).

| Original Score: 3/5 | Sep 5, 2014

Finding Fela fully earns its two-hour running time, and could easily have sustained more, such is the wealth of material and music, and such is the brisk momentum maintained by Gibney and editor Lindy Jankura.

| Sep 5, 2014

Kuti made politics to dance to, and music that made you think. The slick presentation of Gibney's film successfully gets that appeal across, but the method feels compromised.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Sep 4, 2014

Long and undisciplined.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Sep 4, 2014

"Finding Fela!" is an apt title for this dynamic and thorough documentary by Alex Gibney.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Aug 28, 2014

At its best, the film manages the trick of constructing a modern myth while simultaneously deconstructing it - on one level, this is a story about how to tell a story. Plus, it's got a great beat and you can dance to it.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Aug 21, 2014

The constant flipping between stagecraft and reality creates a dissonant static that prevents any satisfying connection with the film.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Aug 15, 2014

The early songs are a celebration; the later music is a weapon. It would be nice to get more of both, but for that there are the reissued CDs, not to mention this film's soundtrack, a decent sampler.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Aug 14, 2014

For all his strangeness, Fela had a captivating side, and his music could be riveting. That's why the film disappoints - a movie about such a man as this ought to be more exciting.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Aug 14, 2014

A film that's admirably comprehensive but disappointingly short on emotional impact.

| Aug 14, 2014

On camera, Jones acts as a sort of safari leader, hacking away at the thicket of thorny contradictions that surrounded Fela, in the hopes of shaping a coherent yet honest portrait of the man.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Aug 7, 2014

The disjointed rhythm of the movie throws off the groove of Fela's story and the musical.

| Original Score: 6.3/10 | Aug 7, 2014

The abundance of his funky, inspirational music included in the film becomes numbing -- an unfortunate result for such a complicated, passionate pop figure.

| Original Score: C | Aug 4, 2014

Feels like a rough draft for a very good movie.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Aug 1, 2014

Maybe it's a tall order for any conventional documentary to get its arms around a man whose 30-minute-plus jams routinely broke free of their moorings.

| Jul 31, 2014

To Gibney's credit, he doesn't gloss over the less harmonious parts of Kuti's conflicted, tumultuous life.

| Original Score: B | Jul 31, 2014

Though the filmmaking is not terribly exciting, Fela's life and music are.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jul 31, 2014

There's nothing like seeing Fela himself - blowing his sax, expressing his unbridled sexuality and living a life like no other.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jul 31, 2014