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Poster for Magical Universe

Magical Universe

Imagination can take you out of this world.

2014 · 1h 20m · N/A Documentary
Directed by Jeremy Workman

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Overview

A documentarian strikes up an odd friendship with reclusive 80 year old outsider artist Al Carbee, whose strange Barbie-doll photography gains acclaim and interest over the course of the project's multi-year history. Far beyond a portrait of an eccentric, Magical Universe is about wonder, friendship, and the transcendent power of creativity

Director and cast

Critics on Rotten Tomatoes

Top critics, in their words

All reviews
63%
Tomatometer
Fresh

"Magical Universe" is a tender portrait of the artist as a weirdly gifted, wildly prolific and strange man.

Michael Rechtshaffen, Los Angeles Times
Rotten

While Mr. Workman evidently respects Mr. Carbee's talent, he also frames his movie as a trite narrative about a kind of lovably odd acquaintance who comes out of his shell, without many incisive ideas about shaping or broadening the material.

Nicolas Rapold, New York Times
Rotten

A whiff of the strange never quite lifts from the real-life story of Al Carbee, a Maine outsider artist who converted his ramshackle home into a cavernous diorama for Barbie dolls.

Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out
Fresh

This story is about tenderness and empathy, including Carbee's for his plastic proxies.

Abby Garnett, Village Voice

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