The Automat (2022)
90%RT Audience Score: 86%
Awards & Nominations: NA
A wistful ode to a bygone era, The Automat will make viewers nostalgic for America’s past — and hungry for a meal at the titular diner.
If you’re looking for a movie that’ll take you back to the good ol’ days, The Automat is your ticket. It’s like a love letter to a time when diners were all the rage and people actually talked to each other instead of staring at their phones. And let me tell you, the food they serve up in this joint looks so good, you’ll be drooling all over your popcorn. So if you’re feeling a little wistful and hungry, give The Automat a try. It’s the perfect combo of nostalgia and deliciousness.
Production Company(ies)
DUST, Social
Distributor
A Slice of Pie Productions
Release Type
Theatrical, Theatrical (Limited)
Filming Location(s)
United States
MPAA / Certificate
NR
Year of Release
2022
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby
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Aspect ratio:NA
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Runtime:1h 59m
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Feb 18, 2022 Limited
Genre(s)
Documentary
Keyword(s)
documentary, The Automat, Horn & Hardart, communal tables, America’s past, diner, archival footage, photographs, celebrity customers, company executives, historians, Horn & Hardart families, Mel Brooks, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Colin Powell, Carl Reiner, Elliott Gould, Howard Schultz, Lisa Hurwitz, Alec Shuldiner, Russell Greene, Michael Levine, $257.4K, Slice of Pie Productions, English, Feb 18, 2022, 1h 59m, genre, box office performance, budget, MPAA rating, reviewed by Ty Burr, Mark Feeney, Sarah Jane, Catey Sullivan, Ann Hornaday, Michael Phillips, Raquel Stecher, Asia Frey, Joe Friar, Michael Szymanski, Rubén Rosario, directed by Lisa Hurwitz, written by Michael Levine
Worldwide gross: NA
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): NA
US/Canada gross: NA
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend: $13,917
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $13,917
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,612
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Ruth Bader Ginsburg – Self
Colin Powell – Self
Carl Reiner – Self
Elliott Gould – Self
Howard Schultz – Self
Lisa Hurwitz – Director, Producer
Alec Shuldiner – Producer
Russell Greene – Producer
Michael Levine – Writer
Director(s)
Lisa Hurwitz
Writer(s)
Michael Levine, Michael Levine
Producer(s)
Lisa Hurwitz, Alec Shuldiner, Russell Greene
Film Festivals
Telluride
Awards & Nominations
NA
Academy Awards
All Critics (55) | Top Critics (17) | Fresh (54) | Rotten (1)
Short and sweet, “The Automat” is a fond remembrance of a vanished era – the past seen through a tiny glass window.
May 13, 2022 | Rating: 3/4
Ty Burr
Ty Burr’s Watch List
TOP CRITIC
Hurwitz takes a terrific subject and treats it with undisguised, and justified, affection. What’s most impressive about “The Automat” is how much ground it covers.
May 12, 2022 | Rating: 3/4
Mark Feeney
Boston Globe
TOP CRITIC
The Automat is rather like a nickel slice of pie or bowl of mac & cheese you’d get from one of their restaurants. It’s not fancy, but it’s good.
May 12, 2022
Sarah Jane
Austin Chronicle
TOP CRITIC
In Lisa Hurwitz’s charming, informative film, the era of the Automat gleams anew, as everyone from Colin Powell to Ruth Bader Ginsburg to Brooks recall their appeal.
April 7, 2022
Catey Sullivan
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
[A] crisp, straightforward documentary…
April 6, 2022 | Rating: 2.5/4
Ann Hornaday
Washington Post
TOP CRITIC
“The Automat” is both a touching farewell and a fond hello-again for those old enough to remember the salisbury steak, creamed spinach and peach pie behind those little windows of nickel-fed discovery.
April 4, 2022 | Rating: 3/4
Michael Phillips
Chicago Tribune
TOP CRITIC
What The Automat documentary excels at is offering viewers a contextual history of how this business was born, how it thrived and how it became part of the social fabric of New York City and Philadelphia.
November 21, 2022
Raquel Stecher
Out of the Past
Delivered an effective recipe of sincerity, nostalgia and interesting social history about a quirky little phenomenon that captured a slice of Americana.
September 6, 2022
Asia Frey
Lagniappe (Mobile, AL)
The documentary goes back in time to an era that revolutionized the restaurant industry. Director Lisa Hurwitz examines the culinary sensation by interviewing celebrities who share their cherished memories including Mel Brooks who wrote a song for the doc
September 5, 2022 | Rating: 4/4
Joe Friar
Fort Worth Report
This is a delightful documentary, just as perfect as that Automat cup of coffee. “The Automat” taps into nostalgia, history and easier times and is truly one of the most original documentaries ever made.
August 26, 2022 | Rating: 10/10
Michael Szymanski
Mike Szymanski (Medium)
The Automat is unabashedly sentimental, but it dives into its subject with eyes wide open. It trades in no-nonsense nostalgia.
June 13, 2022
Rubén Rosario
MiamiArtZine
The Automat is a slice of nostalgia as sweet and fluffy as a piece of Horn & Hardart’s famous lemon meringue pie.
May 13, 2022
Oscar Goff
Boston Hassle…
Plot
Featuring an original new song written and performed by Mel Brooks, this documentary tells the 100-year story of the iconic restaurant chain Horn & Hardart, the inspiration for Starbucks, where generations of Americans ate and drank coffee together at communal tables. From the perspective of former customers entertainer Mel Brooks, Starbucks founder Howard Schultz, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Secretary of State Colin Powell, the Horns, the Hardarts, and key employees – we watch a business climb to its peak success and then grapple with fast food in a forever changed America.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Mel Brooks is one of the stars featured in The Automat (2021), where he appears as himself – a comedian.
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