It's like "Capturing the Friedmans" scrubbed to a happy ending.
70
VarietyRonnie Scheib
VarietyRonnie Scheib
Tyro helmer Sara Lamm satisfyingly stitches together the family soap opera into a comfortable crazy quilt without sacrificing its unique, oddly topical edge.
Lamm effectively uses interviews with family members and the soap's users to draw a well-rounded portrait of the otherwise inscrutable senior Bronner. In doing so, she observes a bittersweet story of a family and the surprising effects a crusading eccentric can have on them.
Mixes method and madness to chart the evolution of a counterculture phenomenon.
50
Village Voice
Village Voice
Although the segments featuring Bronner's son Ralph veer uncomfortably toward hagiography, first-time director Sara Lamm balances out the love-fest by exploring the dark side of being a soap-hawking prophet and the toll that ALL-ONE-FAITH took on Bronner's family.
50
Boston Globe
Boston Globe
Alternately shows the elder Bronner as lovable and nutty, sinister and terrifying, victim and victimizer. Ultimately, those disparate elements never coalesce.