Metacritic Movie Ratings
Thunder Soul Reviews

A sample of reviews from critics across the country.

• 100

  out of 100

  The New York TimesJeannette Catsoulis

  By introducing funky licks, fancy footwork and many of his own compositions to the band's stodgy set list of jazz standards, this indomitable leader (whose declining health adds a poignant twang to the film's final scenes) instilled racial pride alongside musical competency.

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• 80

  out of 100

  VarietyJoe Leydon

  Mark Landsman's spirited Thunder Soul offers a heaping helping of uplift while documenting the past triumphs and recent reunion of a predominantly black Houston high school's singularly accomplished jazz stage band.

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• 80

  out of 100

  Los Angeles Times

  Though it sometimes overplays the sentimentality, Thunder Soul gets not just the music but also the sense of possibility for this post-civil-rights generation.

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• 80

  out of 100

  The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt

  A greater argument for music education in our secondary school curriculum can't be made than Mark Landsman's doc about a Texas high school funk band that tore up the music scene from 1968 to 1977.

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• 70

  out of 100

  Village VoiceMelissa Anderson

  Sometimes you just can't fight the funk; as much as you might resist the film's more maudlin scenes, not succumbing to the band's signature tune, "Head Wiggle," is impossible.

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