“Dionne Warwick: Don’t Make Me Over” has its world premiere at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival.
In the era of the “authorized documentary,” whereby filmmakers get access to a living legend (and their friends, family and colleagues) in exchange for a film that’s going to be almost unfailingly glowing, it’s incumbent upon documentarians to find some element of interest to take the place of scandal, criticism or provocation.
Thankfully, the makers of “Dionne Warwick: Don’t Make Me Over” have such a fascinating subject — and who gives interviews that are equal parts warm, self-deprecating, no-nonsense and unapologetic — that the movie almost never feels like a greatest-hits informercial.