What the world needs now is Molly Ivins.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 23, 2020

Given that it's 13 years since Ivins died, it's puzzling why this film is coming out now, but it's never not a good time to celebrate a woman with an outsized, big-boned talent...

| Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 22, 2020

A rousing portrait of a brilliant journalist who would not be defeated.

| Oct 22, 2020

Talking heads ranging from family members, friends and news anchors Rachel Maddow and Dan Rather bring excellent analysis of this once-in-a-lifetime and sorely missed pundit.

| Oct 2, 2020

Though the documentary doesn't feature any conservative talking heads to balance out its liberal voice, anyone could leave the film unsettled by how relevant Ivins's commentary remains today.

| Feb 20, 2020

It instead works because the film operates in and plays with its grey area, entirely uninterested in going towards any true 'side.' It, like Ivins, knows these polarities as a construct.

| Jan 17, 2020

Perhaps what stands out most of all is how disarming Ivins was in spite of her sharp tongue.

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

One wonders what Ivins' might have made of such adulating celebrations of reporters, but she would have raised a beer to the final sections of the documentary that add some warts to the portrait.

| Dec 10, 2019

Janice Engel's loving portrait of perhaps the most famous liberal journalist in Texas history (there must be a few others, right?) feels a bit like a pitch for a biopic. That is to say, it's more portrait than story.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Oct 12, 2019

Janice Engel's film is a rollicking re-acquaintance with Ivins' distinctive drawl, and we can't help but wonder what she'd say about our current ominous political climate. Likely, there would be some swearing involved.

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

Really, all Janice Engel had to do was run as many old videos of the great Molly Ivins, journalist and iconoclast, to entertain her worshippers... But Engel does more than that in this classic biopic.

| Oct 10, 2019

A fleet footed and loving introduction to the work of a gunslinger scribe.

| Oct 9, 2019

Along with the pleasures of watching Ivins in action, answering fans and critics alike with irreverent aplomb, Engel's movie serves up an affectionate portrait of Ivins' longtime friendship with another strong, salty Texas woman, Ann Richards.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Oct 9, 2019

[A] documentary that makes the case for how much the outspoken journalist's voice is missed today.

| Original Score: B+ | Oct 4, 2019

An entertaining tribute to the firebrand liberal reporter and columnist, the sort of larger-than-life character that's all but disappeared from contemporary journalism.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 27, 2019

[Molly] Ivins remained an invaluable voice until the end of her life.

| Sep 19, 2019

You get to meet political columnist and satirist, Molly Ivins, head on, in this eye-opening, entertaining documentary. It shows this screaming liberal as a force to be reckoned from, of all places, Texas...

| Sep 19, 2019

This movie just a hoot and a half.

| Sep 16, 2019

From first-time feature director Janice Engel, Raise Hell: The Life & Times of Molly Ivins is that rare documentary that might have more of an impact on someone unfamiliar with the subject than those who know her fiery work intimately.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Sep 15, 2019

As much of a card as Ivins was, Engel's film hints at the darkness beneath the clown's jovial exterior, most notably her struggle with alcohol.

| Original Score: B+ | Sep 15, 2019