Justin Bieber: Never Say Never

Directed by Jon Chu

(G)

**

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After Never Say Never, no one will be immune to Bieber Fever, said Michael Rechtshaffen in The Hollywood Reporter. This “energetic portrait” of pop singer Justin Bieber, the small-town Canadian teen who became a YouTube phenom and international superstar, is bound to “make believers” of us all. Following the angel-faced performer from his “kiddie drum kit to the mighty Madison Square Garden,” the film sets out to demonstrate that Bieber isn’t just a social-media sensation but the “hardest-working 16-year-old on the planet.” The film makes a compelling yet “ludicrously flawed” case, said Genevieve Koski in the A.V. Club. There’s no denying the kid’s got talent and dedication. But to portray his 18-month career as “a long, arduous struggle is laughable and borderline offensive”—especially considering he had the support of R&B star Usher and record impresario Antonio “L.A.” Reid. The movie is “working overtime” to prove that Bieber is “just a regular kid who had a dream,” said Mike Hale in The New York Times. Yet everything about this film, from the adoring fans to the giant tour buses, “screams the opposite.”