Quartile rating: 6.5/10 · 1 rating
Filmed over 14 months with unprecedented access into the inner circle of the man and the sport, this is the first official and fully authorised film of one of the most celebrated figures in football. For the first time ever, the world gets vividly candid and un-paralleled, behind-closed-doors access to the footballer, father, family-man and friend in this moving & fascinating documentary. Through in-depth conversations, state of the art football footage and never before seen archival footage, the film gives an astonishing insight into the sporting and personal life of triple Ballon D'Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo at the peak of his career. From the makers of ‘Senna’ and ‘Amy’, Ronaldo takes audiences on an intimate and revealing journey of what it’s like to live as an iconic athlete in the eye of the storm.
A competent but somewhat hagiographic sports documentary that benefits from unprecedented access to Ronaldo but suffers from its authorized, PR-friendly nature. The cinematography is polished and the football footage is well-captured, but the film never pushes past surface-level revelation. Coming from the makers of Senna and Amy, the bar is high, and Ronaldo feels comparatively toothless — more promotional than probing. The narrative structure is fairly conventional for the celebrity sports doc genre, and the ending offers little dramatic resolution. Decent for fans, but lacks the depth and critical distance that made its predecessors memorable.