Avis Metacritic

A movie as layered and enthralling as its subject.

How long has it been since a movie left you literally speechless?

Given that "Chorus Line" is almost the paradigmatic backstage story, I guess Every Little Step is a meta-backstage story, capturing the "American Idol"-scale audition process.

The result? A briskly self-aware, thoroughly stage-struck portrait of a theatrical portrait.

It's a can't-miss effort that knows how to please.

The premise of Every Little Step is no less inspired for seeming so simple and obvious, and it pays tribute to the durability and continued relevance of “A Chorus Line,” which first opened in New York in 1975, before many of the performers in the movie were born.

A thrilling combination of documentary and musical dazzler.

For Chorus Line fans, though, the documentary--is a singular sensation.

It's a huge improvement over the Attenborough film; given the film’s non-fiction roots, it seems poetically apt that a documentary take is much more satisfying and engaging than the Hollywood treatment.

Every Little Step shows only this: It hurts to flunk an audition, and it's nice to get hired. Everything it has to say about Broadway was said better in Bob Fosse's movie "All That Jazz" -- in its opening five minutes.