Film

Quincy

Name: Quincy
Genre: Documentary, Music
Released: 2018
Cast: Quincy Jones, Rashida Jones, Tom Hanks, Oprah Winfrey, John Legend

Musical

Quincy Jones's documentary is a masterclass in creative restlessness and ambition. Across 70 years, he shaped jazz, pop, film, and television—not from behind the scenes, but everywhere at once. This is a portrait of a man who refused to stay in one room, told with the warmth of someone looking back without regret. It's for anyone who's ever wondered how the music that defined generations actually got made.

TMDb rating

3.6

If you liked this

20 Feet from Stardom2013

A documentary about the backup singers who shaped soul and pop music. Like Quincy, it reveals the unseen architects behind the moments we remember, with interviews that crackle with wit and hard-won wisdom.

But It's quieter than you might expect—a meditation on visibility and gratitude rather than a greatest-hits celebration. Some find the pacing contemplative to the point of slowness.

Muscle Shoals2013

The story of a small Alabama studio that became a nexus of American music. It captures the same sense of place-as-character and the alchemy of creative collaboration that made Quincy's world possible.

But The documentary assumes you know the artists involved. Without that context, some of the reverence may feel unearned, and it runs long for what's essentially a love letter to a room.

The Defiant Ones2017

Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre's partnership told with the same scale and intimacy this Quincy doc employs. It's about mentorship, the price of ambition, and how music gets made by people who refuse to compromise.

But The second half loses some momentum as it moves into recent history. Hip-hop fans will love it; jazz and classical audiences may find it feels lightweight by comparison.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Quincy

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Godard Mon Amour2017

Like Quincy, Godard refused categories and kept reinventing. This film captures that same driven restlessness, that refusal to repeat yourself, but in a radically different key—high art instead of popular culture, politics instead of melodies.

A French film about Jean-Luc Godard and his wife Anne Wiazemsky during the revolutionary 1960s. It's experimental, intimate, and obsessed with how two artists navigate politics, love, and uncompromising vision.

But It's very French, very formalist, and assumes you care about cinema history. Subtitled, slow, and baffling if you go in cold. Some of it will feel pretentious even if you do go in warm.

Searching for Sugar Man2012

A detective story about a forgotten folk-rock artist that unfolds like a mystery. It has the same fascination with legacy, visibility, and the strange ways greatness gets buried or rediscovered.

But The film withholds its own major revelation until late. If you know the twist beforehand, the documentary loses a lot of its engine.

Soundbreaking2016

Eight episodes on how recording technology shaped modern music, from Edison onward. It's Quincy-adjacent—the infrastructure that made his experiments possible—and visually gorgeous.

But Each episode is standalone, so it doesn't build momentum or argument across the series. It can feel like high-end music journalism broken into pieces.

The Two Escobars2010

An ESPN documentary about two men named Escobar in 1990s Colombia—one a football player, one a drug lord. It's a master class in connecting personal ambition to historical forces, with a tragic tragic precision.

But It's densely plotted and assumes you know Colombian history. The tone is noir-ish and unsettling in ways a music documentary won't prepare you for.

Cobain: Montage of Heck2015

Brett Morgen's experimental biography of Cobain uses animation, home video, and archival material to build something that's part film, part collage. It captures the texture of a creative life in flux.

But The formal experimentation can feel like style over substance. And if you're looking for straightforward narrative, the fractured approach is genuinely exhausting.

Amy2015

Asif Kapadia's portrait of Amy Winehouse is both intimate and tragic—a real artist destroyed by fame and addiction. It's a necessary counterpoint to Quincy's survival story.

But It's relentlessly dark. There's no redemption arc, just the steady documentation of decline. Many viewers find it too painful to finish.

Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and the Band2020

Daniel Roher's documentary about The Band's formation and breakup is lush with archival footage and performances. It celebrates collaborative genius the way Quincy does.

But It's deeply rooted in '60s and '70s rock history. If that era bores you, the nostalgia will feel impenetrable, and some sections drag with behind-the-scenes minutiae.

Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and the Band poster

Concrete Cowboy2020

Both are stories about cultural inheritance and the creativity of people who build their own worlds outside mainstream attention. Quincy shaped popular culture; these riders shaped a culture that most of the world never sees. The spirit of invention is the same, just in a different zip code.

A narrative film (not a documentary) about a teenager discovering Black urban horseback riding culture in North Philadelphia. It's rooted in a real subculture Quincy's generation wouldn't have known, and it captures the same spirit of adaptation, inheritance, and finding joy in unlikely places.

But The script is uneven and the plot feels familiar if you've seen coming-of-age films before. Some dramatic beats land heavy-handed, and the genre mix can feel confused.