SummaryFrom his days leading The New York Dolls to his reinvention as lounge lizard Buster Poindexter, David Johansen is a chameleonic one of a kind performer. Featuring a live performance at Café Carlyle in New York City, where he performs as Poindexter singing the Johansen songbook, along with new and archival interviews, the film is a testament to a ... Read More
Directed By:Martin Scorsese, David Tedeschi
Written By:David Tedeschi
Personality Crisis: One Night Only
Metascore
Generally Favorable
80
User score
Generally Favorable
7.8
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Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
80
100% Positive
9 Reviews
9 Reviews
0% Mixed
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Apr 17, 2023
85
Personality Crisis: One Night Only retains the impish mystery surrounding one of rock’s most underrated frontmen while building a beautiful and slightly abstracted portrait of a man in a constant state of transformation.
Apr 14, 2023
85
Rock ‘n’ roll portraits this vibrant, introspective, and nimble don’t come around very often.
Oct 25, 2022
83
The documentary lets its subject’s weathered charisma do most of the hard work here — Scorsese and Tedeschi love him too much to beg for your attention — and yet it weaves in enough context to convince even the biggest New York Dolls neophytes of the band’s legacy. Even longtime fans might be struck by the contrast between the breeziness of the film’s tone and the weight of its history.
Apr 13, 2023
80
It’s a documentary of sterling musical moments and clever connections between culture and the city that all the principals here so clearly adore.
Apr 13, 2023
80
The results leave one thinking of the film’s subject as too delicate for punk, too vulnerable for the Rat Pack, and happy to be the kind of singular phenomenon worthy of Scorsese-ian scrutiny.
Apr 14, 2023
75
One Night Only becomes the story of a man surrounded by music his whole life who knew how to filter those influences through a distinct voice. The film sometimes runs too long, but its subject has earned that length. He sounds phenomenal, and he’s filled with, well, personality.
Oct 25, 2022
67
Johansen is a force despite this film’s flaws, undeniable in both charms and quirks. His talent remains emphatic, and his stage presence is enough for the camera to sit back and appreciate him. Being enigmatic yet accessible, Scorsese and Tedeschi must capture his substantial coolness. They succeed in spades.
User score
Generally Favorable
7.8
100% Positive
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
0% Mixed
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
0% Negative
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
Apr 26, 2023
7
One part concert, one part documentary. One of the reasons Scorsese's documentaries fascinate me is that, even when the research work is not deep as in this case, he manages to really make his subject the center of attention. My knowledge of David Johansen was really scant, because I basically only knew him as the lead singer of the New York Dolls, but as soon as it was over, I wanted to know more and I wanted to listen to more of him.
If that's not a success for a documentary, then I don't know what is.
Production Company:
- Imagine Documentaries
- Showtime Documentary Films
- Sikelia Productions
Release Date:Apr 14, 2023
Duration:2 h
Awards
Astra Television Awards
• 1 Nomination
