The 50 Year Argument is a documentary film by Martin Scorsese and co-directed by David Tedeschi about the history and influence of the New York Review of Books, which marked its 50th anniversary in 2013.

The film uses a combination of archival footage, quotes from the Review and contemporary interviews to give a view of the coverage of the journal over its half-century of publication, focusing on how its writers and editors have approached the larger issues of the day.

[5] Scorsese and Tedeschi "delve into the journal's eventful fifty-year history, from its emergence during the writer strikes and Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s through to the Arab Spring uprisings in Egypt, Libya and Syria.

"[6] They "present a fascinating account of a publication that defies the modern culture of news reporting"[7] but "avoid probing its political character beyond saluting a broad interest in human rights ... a few dissenting voices among the cheerleaders might have added a little necessary grit.

... Scorsese [chooses] to have many famous articles read by their authors", which is sometimes poignant, and results in "a thematically dense but wholly accessible film about how fifty years of sensuous ideas can open a dialogue towards social and political change.

"[7] Variety, though concurring that the film "comes mainly to lionize", remarked that it successfully encapsulates the paper's origins and first years, its modern day-to-day operations under Silvers, and a detailed examination of the Review's most important articles and contributors.

[4] The Times said, "Scorsese's nose for mafia-style feuds works well in this study of the literati who inhabit the Review's august and book-tsunamied offices in New York's Village.

"[25] Another at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wrote: "The 50-Year Argument is a rare animal among documentaries because it honors intellectualism — a dirty word in some quarters — rather than a person or an event and proves that ideas are powerful and effective in the hands of serious-minded people.