This is a film about Sylvester Stallone made by people who love Sylvester Stallone.

| Nov 29, 2023

It's very pro-Sly... but be that as it may, I enjoyed it. He's a fascinating guy.

| Nov 29, 2023

It might follow a linear storytelling path a little too strictly, but Sylvester Stallone is a bracingly honest documentary subject, and fans in particular will take much from this look at a life and career well lived.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Nov 13, 2023

Stallone is unquestionably a magnetic screen presence. If only the film were able to capture who he is beyond that.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Nov 7, 2023

“Sly” possesses value as a pop-culture record, letting an influential talent tell their story to those weaned on their work. Compared to the best of that fertile genre, though, it’s more of a lightweight than a genuine contender.

| Nov 6, 2023

It’s more of a comfort watch, an American underdog story, than a warts-and-all expose.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Nov 6, 2023

In stray moments, he does talk touchingly enough about life flying past – but this otherwise maudlin experience feels like a better use of Sly’s time than ours.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Nov 3, 2023

As a movie, Sly is something of a mess. But as a portrait of a messy man, it can be quite moving.

| Nov 3, 2023

Worshipful, relatively brief bio offers such fascinating details, we’re left wanting more.

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

"Sly" gives Stallone his due as a pop culture force and then some.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Nov 3, 2023

That we barely notice his omissions is Sly at its slyest.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 3, 2023

Provides only some of his story, its up-close-and-personal view masking as much as it reveals.

| Nov 3, 2023

Basically, Stallone is the Saint Sebastian of American cinema.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Nov 2, 2023

Zimny excavates the acts of self-creation behind a career that minted two indelible titular characters in “Rocky” and “Rambo” — whose underdog narratives proved highly influential.

| Nov 2, 2023

A sanitized, often convincing commercial for Stallone as product in place of the man himself.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Oct 30, 2023

Mostly, it’s Stallone who impresses here, as a disarmingly open and self-aware icon whose hardest lessons have left a mark on him.

| Original Score: B | Sep 18, 2023

I found this portrait of an artist incredibly rewarding.

| Sep 17, 2023

Talking into the camera, Stallone tells great stories, and he makes his own journey irresistible.

| Sep 17, 2023

The star proves to be a good enough explainer of his legacy that the documentary finds effective insight and poignancy — despite however much he’s an overly protective custodian of that legacy...

| Sep 17, 2023