''Becoming Mike Nichols'' is a 2016

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

directed by

Douglas McGrath Douglas Geoffrey McGrath (February 2, 1958 – November 3, 2022) was an American screenwriter, film director, and actor. He received various accolades, including nominations for an Academy Award, BAFTA Award, Tony Award, and Primetime Emmy Awar ...

about the life of

Mike Nichols Mike Nichols (born Michael Igor Peschkowsky; November 6, 1931 – November 19, 2014) was an American film and theater director, producer, actor, and comedian. He was noted for his ability to work across a range of genres and for his aptitude fo ...

. It premiered at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...

on January 29, 2016, and was later broadcast on

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

on February 22, 2016.

Participants

* Jack O'Brien

Production

The film contains interviews between Jack O'Brien and Mike Nichols filmed in the months before the death of Mike Nichols in 2014. The interviews were held on two nights, one with an audience and one without. Both interviews were held at the

Golden Theatre The John Golden Theatre, formerly the Theatre Masque and Masque Theater, is a Broadway theater at 252 West 45th Street (George Abbott Way) in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1927, the Golden Theatre was d ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

where ''

An Evening with Mike Nichols and Elaine May ''An Evening with Mike Nichols and Elaine May'' is a live comedy album by Nichols and May. The album features selected pieces from the Broadway presentation of ''An Evening with Mike Nichols and Elaine May''. The show opened October 8, 1960, in ...

'' premiered 54 years earlier.

Release

The film premiered at the

Egyptian Theater Egyptian-style theatres are based on the traditional and historic design elements of Ancient Egypt. The first Egyptian Theatre to be constructed in the US – which inspired many of the identically-named theatres that followed it – was Grauma ...

on January 29, 2016, as part of the

. It was later broadcast on

on February 22, 2016.

Reception

Jeremy Kinser of

Sundance Institute Sundance Institute is a non-profit organization founded by Robert Redford committed to the growth of independent artists. The institute is driven by its programs that discover and support independent filmmakers, theatre artists and composers f ...

called it a "thoroughly engaging film" that "explores Nichols unique creative process". Guy Lodge of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' called it an "oddly truncated overview of his early career." Brian Tallerico of '' RogerEbert.com'' gave the film two and a half stars, writing that it "falls short of its potential beyond the clearly interesting source of trivia it provides". Kevin Crust of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' wrote that "The real value of the documentary from Douglas McGrath lies in charting Nichols’ creative trajectory". Charles Kaiser of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' called the film a "fitting tribute to a great director". Todd McCarthy of ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' called the film "A short, funny and illuminating interview-based documentary that will leave theater and film mavens satisfied and hungry for more." Brandon Nowalk of ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

'' called the film "this year's second best Mike Nichols doc". John Fink of thefilmstage.com gave the film a B+, calling it "brief and engaging".

References

External links

* {{Douglas McGrath 2016 television films 2016 films 2016 documentary films American documentary television films Documentary films about comedy and comedians Documentary films about film directors and producers Films directed by Douglas McGrath HBO documentary films 2010s English-language films 2010s American films English-language documentary films