Soderbergh's liveliest, most big-thinking work since Magic Mike, this is a quick, zingy, all-business sports drama that plays like Jerry Maguire with twin degrees in economics and sociology.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 11, 2019

Directed, shot, and edited by Steven Soderbergh, this cerebral Netflix original is an even more incisive drama about the business of sports than Moneyball.

| Dec 11, 2019

McCraney understands rhythm and melody. His dialogue has real musicality, and these actors -- this cast is so good -- deliver their lines accordingly; they know when to lean into the beat, when to sotto voce, when to sound the timpani.

| Dec 11, 2019

While focusing on the nuts and bolt of big-time athletics, Soderbergh misses the drama and urgency inherent in his high-flying, high-stakes subject matter.

| Dec 11, 2019

High Flying Bird could be called an anti-Sports Movie: its goal is not to uplift, but rather to provoke, mobilize and envision a future in which the players themselves own the league.

| Dec 11, 2019

The actors here, particularly Holland, speak with a relish Soderbergh usually saves for his heist capers. And though much lighter on the action, High Flying Bird still has the pace and feel of one.

| Dec 11, 2019

A Promethean sports drama that hums with the verve and purpose of Soderbergh's very best work.

| Original Score: A- | Dec 11, 2019

The director and cinematographer is Steven Soderbergh, who has recently returned after a blessedly brief 2012 retirement with manic energy. High Flying Bird continues his stream of crafting the tightest, snappiest pieces of movie work in recent memory.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Dec 11, 2019

Whether High Flying Bird is perfect for streaming or doomed to obscurity because of it, I'm delighted I got to watch it and spend 90 minutes in the company of some very intelligent people.

| Original Score: 8/10 | Dec 11, 2019

McCraney's script is whip-smart and sharp as it digs into the sports industry, and Soderbergh remains at the top of his game as one of the most exciting directors working today.

| Dec 10, 2019

I think the paring of [Steven Soderbergh] and Tarell Alvin McCraney is inspired. It's such a beautiful, sharp, layered script.

| Sep 18, 2019

A film abuzz with topicality, balancing perspectives on black identity and its link to entrepreneurship, personal branding, and "storytelling."

| Mar 21, 2019

High Flying Bird is a heady movie, full of political thought about sport, entertainment, race and power. Rather than float on production value, it sustains itself on the tension of ideas, exchanged rapid-fire in gleaming office towers.

| Feb 14, 2019

The film's dense but fast-moving script, is also replete with references to the game's history - not least to the currents of protest and politics that have coursed through pro basketball since it was segregated.

| Feb 13, 2019

There's a thin line between heaven and here, and High Flying Bird is about finding it and trespassing over it, about building something equitable out of something oppressive.

| Feb 12, 2019

There aren't any action scenes in High Flying Bird -- there's barely even any basketball in it -- but it's nonetheless thrilling, nimble, and funny, even as it does the hard work of challenging the idea that professional basketball is just entertainment.

| Feb 11, 2019

Yet, regardless of how the film looks, Soderbergh's pacing and gift for editing are what keep the action tight, while McCraney's crisp dialogue livens up potentially mundane, exposition-heavy exchanges.

| Feb 8, 2019

To avoid spoilers, I'll hold my tongue on the rest of High Flying Bird's deliciously crafty plot.

| Feb 8, 2019

Along with Space Jam and Hoop Dreams, it joins the roster of passable net-flicks.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 8, 2019

A wordy, witty and at times impenetrable basketball drama.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 8, 2019