Magnificent in all ways.

The result is sometimes dizzying, enchanting or confounding, but it is certainly never boring.

Monica Castillo

RogerEbert.com

What we end up with is a film that contains many fine moments -- the young Bolden's discovery of rhythm, an imagined discussion on musical improvisation between Bolden and clarinetist George Baquet, a look at racial politics of the day -- but those moments don't quite coalesce into a consistently satisfying whole.

Mike Scott

New Orleans Times-Picayune

Unfortunately, the film, costarring Erik LaRay Harvey, Robert Ri’chard and Ian McShane, turns overly violent, raw and showy, undermining the glorious music (written, arranged and performed by Wynton Marsalis), superb period re-creation and Carr’s powerful lead turn.

Gary Goldstein

Los Angeles Times