Review: ‘Man on the Run’ (2026), starring Paul McCartney

February 20, 2026

by Carla Hay

“Man on the Run” (2026)

Directed by Morgan Neville

Culture Representation: The music documentary film “Man on the Run” features singer/songwriter Paul McCartney and a predominantly white group of people (with one biracial person) discussing what happened in his life and career from 1970 to 1981.

Culture Clash: By his own admission, McCartney was depressed and had an identity crisis after the 1970 breakup of his former band The Beatles, but he was able to reclaim his place as an influential icon in music, by becoming a solo artist and a member of the band Wings, with a mixed bag of big hit singles, a few critically panned albums, successful tours and widely praised releases.

Culture Audience: “Man on the Run” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of McCartney and celebrity documentaries that explore but don’t delve too deeply into the down sides of fame.

“Man on the Run” is a comprehensive but not groundbreaking documentary about Paul McCartney’s life and career from 1970 to 1981. Knowledgeable fans of McCartney won’t learn anything new, but the movie is a crowd-pleasing delight. The people interviewed for the documentary (including McCartney) are not seen on camera for these interviews, which are heard only as audio voiceovers. Other than these interviews, the documentary’s new content includes some previously unreleased film/video footage of rehearsals and touring.

Directed by Morgan Neville, “Man on the Run” had its world premiere at the 2025 Telluride Film Festival. People who’ve seen other authorized McCartney documentaries (especially the 2001 documentary “Wingspan”) will see a lot of the same familiar footage in “Man on the Run.” People who’ve read most or all of the biographies (authorized or unauthorized) on McCartney will hear a lot of the same familiar stories. One of those biographies is McCartney’s 2025 memoir “Wings: The Story of a Band on the Run,” which can be considered a companion book to this “Man on the Run” documentary.

However, “Man on the Run” has its unique charms, including some whimsical animation to enhance the archival footage. The documentary’s sound editing and film editing are also excellent. The movie makes a good (but not great) effort to not be a completely white-washed biography, by giving a fair and balanced perspective of the criticism that McCartney received during this period of time in his life.

But make no mistake: Neville’s direction has the tone of being a fan first, which means “Man on the Run” doesn’t really pry too close to topics that could possibly alienate McCartney because of how unflattering the information would be. It’s a characteristic of almost all authorized documentaries or biographies of celebrities: Access to the celebrity and rare archival material comes with a literal or figurative agreement to not do an exposé of the celebrity’s deepest, darkest secrets.

McCartney was born on June 18, 1942, in Liverpool, England. “Man on the Run” is told in chronological order, beginning with the well-known tale of how, in early 1970, McCartney was at a crossroads in his life after the breakup of the Beatles, the band that he co-founded in 1960, with singer/rhythm guitarist John Lennon and singer/lead guitarist George Harrison in their hometown of Liverpool. The last member to join the Beatles was drummer Ringo Starr. McCartney sang and played bass guitar (and occasionally played piano/keyboards) in the band.

The Beatles began as a nightclub band and steadily built a fan base through live performances, including a stint in Hamburg, Germany. The Beatles were famously rejected by every major record company, until EMI Records reversed an initial rejection and signed the Beatles. (In the United States, the Beatles were signed to EMI-owned Capitol Records.) The Beatles’ first single (“Love Me Do”) was released in 1962, and it was the first of numerous hit singles for the band. The Beatles had unprecedented success and are still considered by many to be the greatest and most influential rock band of all time, with the songwriting partnership of Lennon and McCartney as the driving force of this influence.

By the beginning of 1970, the Beatles had disbanded, but the breakup wouldn’t be officially announced until months later. McCartney had become a recluse at a remote farm in Scotland with his wife Linda McCartney, whom he married in 1969; her daughter Heather from Linda’s previous marriage; and Paul and Linda’s biological daughter Mary, who was born in 1969. Heather, who was born in 1962, would eventually be adopted by Paul. Mary was named after Paul’s mother Mary, who died of cancer when he was 14.

For business and publicity reasons, Paul says in the documentary (as he already said in other interviews), the Beatles were told to publicly deny the Beatles’ breakup for several months until they could no longer deny it. Paul officially announced the breakup when he released a written self-interview in April 1970. The world didn’t know it at the time, but it was revealed many years later that the reason why the Beatles had broken up was because (according to Paul), Lennon had quit the group. A great deal of “Man on the Run” discusses the rivalry and on-again/off-again brotherly friendship that Paul had with Lennon, who had known each other since they were teenagers.

Because Paul was the first in the band to announce the Beatles’ breakup, he was perceived as the Beatles member who most wanted the band to break up. Paul says the reality was the opposite: Paul says he wanted to keep the Beatles going for as long as possible. He knew the band had problems, but he says in this documentary and in other interviews that his preference was to have the Beatles take a hiatus instead of completely breaking up.

“Man on the Run” completely ignores the fact that Lennon’s second wife Yoko Ono got much harsher blame and worse criticism than Paul for being the main person who supposedly broke up the Beatles. It’s an example of how “Man on the Run” tends to go with what Paul says without taking into complete account the entire well-documented history of the Beatles’ breakup and its aftermath. By most reliable accounts, Ono was unfairly blamed for breaking up the Beatles.

In the documentary, Paul discusses the widely known fact that was also kept from the public at the time of the breakup: Paul disagreed with the other members of the band on who would manage the Beatles. After the 1967 drug-overdose death of the Beatles’ original manager Brian Epstein (at age 32), the Beatles managed themselves. Paul had always been the most business-minded member of the Beatles, so he became the de facto business leader of the group.

By 1969, while the Beatles were recording their last studio albums “Let It Be” and “Abbey Road,” Lennon was pushing to have Allen Klein become the Beatles’ manager because Klein (who also managed the Rolling Stones at the time) had promised to get better music royalty deals for the Beatles, just like Klein did with the Rolling Stones. Harrison and Starr agreed with Lennon. Paul wanted his father-in-law Lee Eastman (who was also Paul’s attorney) to become the Beatles’ next manager. The other Beatles members disagreed because they believed Paul would have an unfair advantage if the Beatles’ manager was also Paul’s father-in-law/attorney.

Klein briefly managed the Beatles and the Beatles company Apple Corps before the band broke up. “Man on the Run” presents this business dispute as Paul being correct all along about Klein being an untrustworthy snake. While it’s true that the Beatles and the Rolling Stones regretted doing business with Klein (who awarded himself the copyrights to many of these bands’ songs), we’ll never know how things would’ve gone for the Beatles if Eastman had become the Beatles’ manager.

Based on how McCartney and others have described the Beatles in 1969, the band breakup was inevitable because Lennon and Harrison wanted to leave the band for solo careers. The personal turmoil and legal conflicts over the Beatles’ business partnership continued until the Beatles’ business partnership was officially dissolved in 1974. Paul sued to dissolve the partnership. He says in the documentary he was unfairly depicted as the villain, especially for people who held out hope that he, Lennon, Harrison and Starr would reunite to make music or perform as the Beatles. That hoped-for Beatles reunion never happened.

During the reclusive period of time in McCartney’s life in 1970, he was drinking a lot of alcohol, by his own admission (this story about his alcohol abuse has been known for decades), but he also embraced family life and reconnected with what it meant to be a person without the usual celebrity comforts. During this time on the farm, the McCartney family did not have cooks, nannies or housemaids. They lived on a self-sufficient farm.

McCartney never stopped making music, but the music he made from 1970 to 1972 got mixed reactions from fans and critics. The albums weren’t sales flops, but they were far from the blockbuster hitmaking that he had with the Beatles. His first solo album, 1970’s “McCartney,” was mostly critically panned. So was his 1971 album “Ram,” which had Linda McCartney sharing credit as the album’s artist.

Linda was known as a photographer, but she was also an animal rights activist who was one of the people who convinced Paul to become a vegetarian. Paul says it was his idea for Linda to make music with him. He describes her initially questioning the idea but saying yes in a casual and accepting way. She became a keyboardist and a backup vocalist for Paul during the 1970s and the early 1980s. Their band Wings existed from 1971 to 1981.

Linda also received co-songwriting credit on Wings songs, although it’s widely known that Paul was always the band’s chief songwriter. Did she contribute to some of the lyrics and melodies of Wings songs? Probably. However, Paul has always been the mastermind of all his albums that have been released since the Beatles broke up. Several biographies of Paul have noted that Linda getting Wings co-songwriting credit was probably for tax reasons, but that type of information wouldn’t be in this documentary, which doesn’t mention any songwriting that Linda might have done.

Paul has discussed in many interviews, including in “Man on the Run,” how Linda was the main person who helped him out of his depression after the Beatles broke up. Paul’s song “Maybe I’m Amazed” (from his 1970 “McCartney” album) was a love song for Linda and is widely considered to be his first great single released after the Beatles disbanded. Years later in their marriage, Linda (who is described as introverted and less comfortable with fame, compared to extroverted Paul) didn’t really want to tour anymore because she wanted to focus on raising their children.

Paul and Linda would have two other children together: Stella (born in 1971) and James (born in 1977). Mary and Stella are the only children of Paul who are interviewed in the documentary. Stella (who would go on to become a famous fashion designer as an adult) is fiercely defensive of Linda, who got a lot of criticism for her singing and fashion style, which can generously be called quirky and offbeat. Mary shares memories that describe how her childhood had of the contrasts of living a “normal” life on the family’s remote farm and experiencing the celebrity life with her parents on tour.

Linda died of breast cancer in 1998, but her death is not mentioned in the documentary. The documentary includes voiceovers of separate archival interviews of Linda; Wings co-founder/guitarist Denny Laine, who died from complications of interstitial lung disease in 2023; and guitarist Henry McCullough, who was in Wings from 1972 to 1973, and who died after a long illness in 2016. The deaths of Laine and McCullough are also not mentioned in the documentary.

By 1971, Paul was ready to be part of a new band. That band was Wings (often billed as Paul McCartney and Wings), a Grammy-winning group that released seven studio albums and had a string of hit songs until the band’s breakup in 1981. Hit songs from Wings included “My Love,” “Live and Let Die,” “Jet,” “Band on the Run,” “Let Me Roll It,” “Listen to What the Man Said,” “Silly Love Songs,” “Let ‘Em In,” “Mull of Kintyre,” “With a Little Luck” and “Goodnight Tonight.” All these Wings songs (as well as some solo Paul McCartney songs) are in the documentary, either in their recorded versions and/or as live performances. Wings’ 1979 album “Back to the Egg” (the band’s last studio album) is briefly mentioned in the documentary as the band’s only major flop.

Paul, Linda and Laine remained the core members of Wings, as the lineup changed through the years. “Man on the Run” has interviews with these former Wings members: drummer Denny Seiwell, who was in Wings from 1971 to 1973; drummer Joe English, who was in Wings from 1975 to 1978; and guitarist Laurence Juber and drummer Steve Holley, who were in Wings from 1978 to 1981.

Seiwell is candid about why he and McCollough quit Wings: They were getting paid a “meager” salary that was far below what backup musicians for a superstar like Paul McCartney should be making. McCullough and Seiwell abruptly leaving the band caused Paul, Linda and Laine to temporarily carry on with Wings as a trio.

The result was Wings’ most commercially successful and most critically acclaimed album: 1973’s “Band on the Run,” which was recorded under difficult circumstances in Lagos, Nigeria. The most harrowing incident was when Paul and other people in his entourage were robbed by street thieves, who stole demo recordings of the album. Paul says the way he deals with setbacks and disappointment is to get angry, and then get over it and do the best under the circumstances. In the documentary, Paul also mentions multiple times that when people doubt him, it often motivates him to prove his doubters wrong.

Although Seiwell and McCollough describe being grateful for the opportunity to work with Paul, Seiwell’s description of his Wings salary as “meager” and barely a living wage sounds like employee exploitation. Paul’s response in the documentary is flippant and doesn’t sound entirely honest. Paul says that he wasn’t aware of the band’s financial accounting at the time. That comment is hard to believe, considering Paul’s reputation for being very business-minded, and considering he was the one who signed off on how much money his band members were getting paid.

Paul also says that if any of his band members were dissatisfied with their salaries, they had the option to leave and write their own songs. This remark doesn’t take into account that (1) not every musician wants to be a songwriter and (2) not every songwriter has the extraordinary talent and fame that Paul McCartney has. Seiwell doesn’t sound bitter about his split from Wings, but he’s one of the few people interviewed in the documentary who has a criticism about his work experience with Paul.

The documentary also includes the expected high points of Wings’ successful tours. Paul went from refusing to performing any Beatles songs during the early years of Wings concerts to including Beatles songs in Wings’ later live performances. The documentary includes Paul performing the Beatles’ “Yesterday” during a concert from the Wings Over the World tour, which took place from 1975 to 1976. Paul says a concert low point for Wings was the band’s performance at the Hammersmith Odeon in London, on December 29, 1979, for the Concerts for the People of Kampuchea. Paul says in the documentary it was the worst live performance he ever did because he sang off-key and the sound engineering was subpar.

Paul also says in the documentary that the best Wings lineup was the Wings lineup from 1975 to 1977. American drummer English and Scottish guitarist James “Jimmy” McCulloch were in Wings during those years. At age 26, McCulloch died of a morphine overdose in 1979, two years after he quit Wings. Paul gives a brief comment on McCulloch in the documentary, by saying that McCulloch was very talented but lived dangerously.

“Man on the Run” gives some screen time to discuss the two drug busts for marijuana that Paul experienced during the time period covered in the movie. The first drug bust was in 1972, when Paul, Linda and drummer Seiwell were arrested for possession of marijuana plants, which they claimed were grown from seeds they received from a fan in the mail. They received a relatively small fine as a penalty.

Paul’s more serious drug bust was in 1980, when customs officials at Narita International Airport in Tokyo found 219 grams (7.7 ounces) of marijuana in a plastic bag inside Paul’s suitcase. Paul spent nine days in a Tokyo jail before being deported from Japan, which was a much lighter punishment than what a non-famous person would have received. Wings’ 1980 tour of Japan was canceled because of this arrest. Paul takes full responsibility for this drug bust and says that he didn’t heed warnings not to bring marijuana to Japan. “I was an idiot,” Paul says of getting caught with marijuana in Japan.

The year 1980 also marked the release of Paul’s solo album “McCartney II.” Just like on 1970’s “McCartney,” Paul wrote all the songs himself and played all the instruments on the album. “Coming Up” was the big hit single from “McCartney II.” Because Paul’s recording career as a solo artist had reignited, and because Linda had lost interest in touring, Wings officially disbanded. McCartney comments in the documentary about the decision to end Wings: “The enthusiasm had peaked.” Paul did not tour again until 1989.

John Lennon’s son Sean Ono Lennon (who was born in 1975) says of the feuding that his father and Paul had for most of the 1970s: “My father was tough, but so was Paul.” And even though John Lennon publicly insulted some of the music that Paul made after the Beatles’ breakup, Sean says that John often listened to Paul’s music in private. Sean describes the “Ram” album as a “masterpiece,” and says the John Lennon household had a “well-worn” vinyl copy of the album.

Paul says in the documentary that he believes Klein (who managed John Lennon’s early solo career) was an instigator of much of the feuding because Paul believes Klein planted divisive and negative ideas in John Lennon’s head. Paul gets emotional and a bit choked up when he says that one of the greatest blessings in his life is knowing that he and John had started to become friends again in the few years before John died. As most people already know, John was tragically murdered by a lone shooter in front of John’s New York City home on December 8, 1980. (John’s murderer was sentenced to life in prison.)

Paul’s reaction to John’s murder is also discussed in the documentary. Stella remembers the day that Paul heard the news and seeing his reaction. He was at home in London when he got the phone call. She doesn’t go into details, out of respect for her father, but the tone in her voice leaves no doubt it was a traumatic experience. The documentary includes the archival footage of Paul being interviewed by a British TV reporter on a street, not long after Paul heard the news that John had been murdered. Stella says that Paul got a lot of criticism for not being emotional enough in the interview, but she says Paul was still in shock.

Other people interviewed in the documentary are Rolling Stones lead singer Mick Jagger, Paul’s brother Michael “Mike” McCartney, The Pretenders lead singer Chrissie Hynde, author Peter Doggett, music producer Chris Thomas, journalist Chris Welch, singer Nick Lowe (who was an opening act for Wings), sound engineer Geoff Emerick, Paul’s longtime creative director Aubrey Powell, Paul’s touring/instrument manager John Hammel, and musician Jimmy McGeachy, who was only 15 when he played drums (as part of a Scottish pipe band) on the 1978 hit “Mull of Kintyre.”

A story mentioned in the beginning of the documentary is how McGeachy also took a photo of Paul angrily throwing a book at him because McGeachy invaded his privacy while Paul was being a recluse in Scotland in 1970. Paul then made a deal with McGeachy: In exchange for McGeachy giving the negative of the unflattering photo for Paul to keep, Paul agreed to pose for a few photos for McGeachy. Those photos ended up being sold and published as proof that Paul was still alive and well, during a time when Paul continued to be dogged by false stories that he secretly died.

“Man on the Run” also has an almost-comical montage of the frequent questions that Paul got during the 1970s about whether or not the Beatles would reunite. The former members of the Beatles received offers worth millions to reunite as the Beatles, but the former Beatles members had all clearly moved on to other interests. In the documentary, Paul repeats the famous story about how he was visiting John in New York City in 1976, when they briefly toyed with the idea of doing an impromptu reunion on “Saturday Night Live,” after “Saturday Night Live” creator Lorne Michaels went on the show that year for a comedy sketch to plead for a Beatles reunion. Paul and John ultimately decided that this semi-Beatles reunion would not be a benefit to themselves, so they chose not to do it.

The theatrical release of “Man on the Run” includes an approximately 10-minute featurette (shown after the movie) of director Neville talking with Paul in a room with some Wings-era memorabilia. Neville shows these items to Paul to get his reactions. These items include Robo the Robot, a small robot that Wings had on stage during a 1979 concert; some of Paul’s tour jackets, one of which Paul tries on at Neville’s suggestion, and it fits snugly on Paul; and the passport that Paul had during his 1980 marijuana bust in Japan.

Neville points out to Paul that the passport doesn’t have a Japanese customs stamp on it because Paul was arrested and jailed before he could pass through customs. Neville also comments that because Paul did not pass through customs on that trip to Japan, the Japanese government technically didn’t consider Paul’s trip as officially entering Japan. It was a loophole that allowed Paul to get a much lighter punishment for the marijuana bust than if government records had shown he had passed through Japan’s borders before the marijuana had been found. Paul chuckles and says it was a smart decision for the Japanese government to use this loophole.

Paul also plays a snippet of “All of You” on a piano in the room, at Neville’s request. It’s a nod to the documentary featuring rare early 1970s archival footage of Paul also playing “All of You” at home on his piano before he’s interrupted by a phone call. Neville seems a little star-struck by Paul during this “behind the scenes” conversation, which doesn’t have any meaningful discussion about the making of this documentary. This “bonus content” featurette is cute, but it’s not particularly enlightening.

Because so much has already been reported, examined, and dissected about the Beatles and former members of the Beatles, “Man on the Run” stands as an above-average but not outstanding documentary. The existence of the 2001 “Wingspan” documentary makes “Man on the Run” a bit redundant. “Man on the Run” is still a worthy time capsule of Paul in the 1970s. It will be very informative for those who are unfamiliar with this period of Paul’s life. For people who already know all the major details in the documentary, “Man on the Run” is an entertaining reminder in a well-edited package.

Amazon Studios and Trafalgar Releasing released “Man on the Run” in U.S. cinemas for a limited engagement on February 19 and February 22, 2026. Prime Video will premiere “Man on the Run” on February 27, 2026.