After rocker Kurt Cobain's death, ruled a suicide, a film crew arrives in Seattle to make a documentary. Director Nick Broomfield talks to lots of people. Portraits emerge: a shy, slight Kurt, weary of touring, embarrassed by fame, hooked on heroin; an out-going Courtney, dramatic, controlling, moving from groupie to star.
It would be one mondo bizarro freak show but for the participation of some who clearly cared for the troubled young Cobain.
– Michele Greppi,
New York Post,
11 Apr 2014
rotten:
We do get a strong sense that Love is a loose cannon with a short fuse. But in a freewheeling documentary about a drug-addled rock-star couple that hardly qualifies as a news flash.
– David Bianculli,
New York Daily News,
11 Apr 2014
fresh:
Kurt and Courtney is an entertaining swim through the muck of the rock underworld. But as journalism, it's an utterly sloppy piece of work.
– Steven Rea,
Philadelphia Inquirer,
11 Apr 2014
fresh:
The true circumstances of Cobain's death remain cloudy, but one comes away from the film unnerved by the distance travelled.
– Daphne Merkin,
New Yorker,
11 Apr 2014
fresh:
Our culture has notoriously short attention spans and memories, but Kurt and Courtney goes a long way toward undoing the meticulous public relations campaign that Love has orchestrated in an effort to whitewash her tarnished image.