In a sentenceQuincy Jones is good company, but the questions could do with worse manners
Quincy Jones appears as himself in this documentary about his life and music, directed by Alan Hicks and Rashida Jones. Rashida Jones also appears as herself, while Tom Hanks, Oprah Winfrey and John Legend appear as themselves. Archival footage and access to Quincy Jones’s inner circle bring his career into view, with personal recollections alongside accounts of his achievements. The film also makes space for his thoughts about mortality. Its subject remains at the centre, surrounded by people who know him and the music he makes.
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Quincy is an engaging introduction to Quincy Jones, with archive material that makes the history feel close. Alan Hicks and Rashida Jones are less persuasive when admiration needs to give way to a difficult question.
For those interested in its subject, Quincy is worth the time, provided we do not expect a searching account of the man or his music. Directors Alan Hicks and Rashida Jones assemble music history, personal recollections and tributes with obvious affection. Quincy Jones has the presence to hold our attention through much of its 124 minutes. The difficulty is that the film seems so pleased to have him there that it seldom risks making him uncomfortable.
The archival material gives the film much of its interest. Familiar career milestones become worth revisiting because the footage lets us look at the people involved, rather than simply accept another account of how important they were. There is pleasure in watching a musical life accumulate through these fragments, even when the route through it is conventional. The footage deserves the attention, without quite so much accompanying reassurance about the stature of the man at its centre.
Rashida Jones’s affection helps make the personal material approachable. The film has access to Quincy Jones’s inner circle, and there is a relaxed warmth to the encounters that a more formal survey might struggle to achieve. But closeness also seems to make it reluctant to interrupt an admiring account or examine a flaw for long. The people around him are often enjoyable company, even when their contributions tell us little we could not already gather.
Rory Marx Anderson’s cinematography is unobtrusive enough to keep attention on the people being filmed. That is a sensible choice when the central figure can hold the screen without much help. It also leaves the archive carrying much of the visual interest, while the surrounding footage settles into a comfortable familiarity. A more elaborate camera style would not necessarily improve matters: we wanted the directors to stay with something awkward for longer.
Editors Andrew McAllister and Will Znidaric have plenty of material to organise, and the film remains accessible as it moves through a crowded career. Its rhythm is less dependable. Episodes can feel collected rather than developed, with the next achievement arriving before the previous one has told us much about the person responsible. At 124 minutes, there is time for a fuller examination, but too much of it goes to confirming an impression already established.
We were moved when Quincy Jones reflects on mortality. The prospect of losing this engaging presence gives the film a seriousness that praise alone cannot produce. These passages also show what the gentler approach can achieve when it allows unease to remain. The frustration is that such candour does not receive the same attention as the achievements.
Music documentaries can be generous without treating every achievement as a reason to stop asking questions. Quincy has enough history and personable company to reward an existing interest, but it stops short of making a celebrated subject newly understandable. We do not need a hostile interview, or a catalogue of faults, to feel that someone has been examined properly. See it if the music already matters to you; expect the questions to remain polite.
The reviews lean towards qualified appreciation of Quincy, with praise clustering around its archival footage, musical history and access to Jones and his inner circle. The warmer responses find an affectionate, convincing portrait, with intimate material bringing fresh life to familiar career milestones. Even some sceptical notices acknowledge Jones’s charisma, though the film’s straightforward approach earns more approval as a tribute than as a searching examination of its subject.
The sharpest divide concerns whether that affection leaves enough space for scrutiny. The Los Angeles Times finds Rashida Jones’s treatment of her father loving and clear-eyed, while The Hollywood Reporter sees insufficient critical distance and The Guardian finds his flaws glossed over. Reservations also gather around scattered storytelling, conventional structure and pacing. The spread is wide: the strongest objections concern how little the film discovers, rather than simply how it arranges a crowded life.
The review calls the documentary an inspiring and fitting tribute to Quincy Jones. It praises its intimate archival moments and the wealth of music history, while noting its straightforward style.
Read the full review →Murray finds the documentary loving and clear-eyed, though somewhat scattered. He praises Rashida Jones’s affectionate framing of her father’s life and flaws.
Read the full review →Barker finds the documentary a loving, convincing portrait, though its conventional structure and pacing keep it from fully encompassing Jones. He praises the archival footage for bringing fresh life to familiar career milestones.
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Read the full review →The critic finds the documentary engaging and sweet, but too close to a gushing vanity project. He praises Jones’s charisma and the rich access to his inner circle, while faulting the film for its lack of critical distance and tighter structure.
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