The Wrecking Crew has received positive reviews from critics. Film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 94% of critics gave the film a positive review, based on 71 reviews with a rating and an average score of 7.13/10. The site's consensus states: "
The Wrecking Crew may not achieve the greatness of the many classic songs its subjects helped bring to life, but it remains a heartfelt, overdue tribute to overshadowed brilliance."
Kenneth Turan of the
Los Angeles Times wrote, "If the history of rock music means anything to you, you know the individuals in question could only be the Wrecking Crew, a legendary group of Los Angeles-based studio musicians, and though their story has taken decades to reach the screen, it has been worth the wait."
Mark Feeney of
The Boston Globe commented, "Think of
The Wrecking Crew as
20 Feet from Stardom (2013) for instrumentalists, or a West Coast version of
Standing in the Shadows of Motown (2002). There's a similar shared joy among the participants, a similar sense of discovery for the viewer, and, of course, a killer soundtrack." Christy Lemire of
RogerEbert.com gave the film a score of two-and-a-half out of four stars, calling it "brisk and entertaining but also scattered and repetitive," and noted, "It'll make you listen to 'Good Vibrations,' a song you've heard a million times, with fresh ears."
The Guardians Henry Barnes gave the film three out of five stars, concluding, "The editing is muddled and the structure has gone for a walk, but Tedesco nails the point: that the beauty of pop music lies not with the prancing pop starlets, but in the hands of the average-looking, insanely talented artists behind the scenes." ==Accolades==