Reviews

THE NEW YORK TIMES
“A solid documentary about how art is made...”
Read the review by Matt Zoller Seitz

LOS ANGELES TIMES
“A fascinating and surprisingly involving film... remarkable... made with awe and admiration, a tribute to people whose life work is as much a calling as a career.”
Read the review by Kenneth Turan

VARIETY
“The acting process is joyously celebrated in Casting About, a captivating documentary... that pays uplifting tribute to acting traditions and female spirit in equal measure.”
Read the review by Richard Kuipers

THE BOSTON PHOENIX
“...this lovely, almost embarrassingly intimate documentary... What raw, exposed moments! The tryouts reveal so much!”
Read the review by Gerald Peary

Boston Phoenix on the Boston Film Festival (9/09/2005)
"If there's a theme to this festival, it would be the film medium itself... to the point is Barry J. Hershey's unsettling and eloquent Casting About : a compilation of auditions for a part in a yet unmade film, it reveals the mystery, the vulnerability, and the power of acting." —Peter Keogh

SLANT MAGAZINE
“Casting About may be a definitive account of the cinematic audition process, yet what makes it one of this year's finest documentaries (so far) is its even more penetrating portrait of the craft of acting.”
Read the review by Nick Schager

LA WEEKLY
“Hershey’s documentary slowly evolves... into universal questions about surface beauty, inner depth and the double-edged sword of following a dream.”
Read the review by Tim Grierson

THE BOSTON GLOBE
“A striking piece of work... deserves praise for revealing the process with such creativity.”
Read the review by Ty Burr

The Boston Globe on the Boston Film Festival, 9/04/2005 - by Janice Page
"Some other festival offerings worthy of note include filmmaker Barry Hershey's superb 'Casting About,' an artful compilation of actress auditions with more entertainment value than most jobs they'll ever land."

TV GUIDE
“This film stands as a tribute to the actresses who put their hearts on the line.”
Read the review by Maitland McDonagh

EFILMCRITIC.com
Read the review by Jay Seaver

AUSTRALIAN SCREEN EDITORS (ASE) website,
on Sydney Film Festival   - the editor

 "CASTING ABOUT is quite a revealing film, it shows women begging for parts, freezing as they go to audition, absolutely nailing scenes, bringing the filmmakers to tears and constantly selling themselves for the roles on offer. In some of the women, their desperation to act is blatant while others remain cool as ice. This film left me a little uncomfortable, it is quite emotionally charged and I felt a massive empathy for a lot of the women shown. The film is very well made - the actresses and their performances are interwoven - as a viewer you see a lot of different people doing many of the same things, but you don't get bored."

CHLOTRUDIS SOCIETY FOR INDEPENDENT FILM website,
on the Independent Film Festival of Boston, 5/2005 - by Diane Young

"Much of its strength comes from the editing and camerawork.   As another woman in the audience said, you come in expecting to see a movie about acting and you see the beauty of women... The film was really strengthened by keeping to one gender.   Monologues, personal stories, interaction with offscreen director (of this film and the one they are auditioning for) are interspersed with footage of hands, hair, etc. set to powerful music. Some incredible acting, too."