60
Metascore
13 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- Tab Hunter Confidential is fun and gossipy in the way that great documentaries about Hollywood often are, but it also speaks to a deeper truth about identity and perseverance and the large divide between one's personal and professional life.
- 75RogerEbert.comOdie HendersonRogerEbert.comOdie HendersonHollywood remains terrified that the hunky male product they’re selling to millions of swooning women might turn out to be gay, and “ruin the fantasy” these fans supposedly covet. One can only wonder if an openly LGBT actor can be as huge today as Tab Hunter was in his day. The verdict is still out on that.
- 75San Francisco ChronicleWalter AddiegoSan Francisco ChronicleWalter AddiegoIn all, it’s a relaxed portrait of a likable fellow.
- 70VarietyDennis HarveyVarietyDennis HarveyDrawing on a rich array of archival materials, Tab Hunter Confidential is lively and entertaining.
- 70Village VoiceVillage VoiceThe movie follows Hunter's life after leaving the Warners, the bad movies and years on the dinner-theater circuit. And it reveals something stronger: the quiet refusal, beneath Hunter's affable, casual manner, to be anything less than he is, neither the "sigh guy" nor a convenient symbol of gay pride.
- 70Los Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinLos Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinSchwarz and Hunter never dig all that deep — in fact, it all seems pretty tame by today's reality TV standards — but the film remains an evocative, enjoyable ride.
- 60The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeThe Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeSolid and informative... the affectionate film benefits from plenty of face time with its frank, amiably plain-vanilla subject.
- 50The New York TimesStephen HoldenThe New York TimesStephen HoldenJeffrey Schwarz’s documentary portrait Tab Hunter Confidential is as mild-mannered and blandly likable as its subject.
- 50Washington PostStephanie MerryWashington PostStephanie MerryHunter proves to be an engaging if low-key narrator, whose greatest asset is his refusal to take himself too seriously.
- 38Slant MagazineClayton DillardSlant MagazineClayton DillardThe film lacks perspective beyond a rather limited preoccupation with the details of Hunter's personal life.