53
Metascore
22 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- With the tender love story, charming comedy and underlying point of shared humanity all getting equal standing, directors Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache earn the benefit of the doubt. You won’t be bored.
- 70VarietyPeter DebrugeVarietyPeter DebrugeRunning a full reel longer than needed, the film’s balance of romance, humor and pathos starts to slip in the final stretch... though the emotional notes ring true.
- 63Slant MagazineNick PriggeSlant MagazineNick PriggeEven as Samba struggles to hold onto his identity, the film becomes entangled in an identity crisis of its own.
- 60The TelegraphMike McCahillThe TelegraphMike McCahillSy is such an attentive listener in close-up that you instantly grasp the frazzled Alice’s attraction; if she’s less well defined, Gainsbourg’s nervy intelligence and clenched-jaw resistance to sentimentality hold the interest nevertheless.
- 60Time Out LondonTrevor JohnstonTime Out LondonTrevor JohnstonBoth actors are tremendous. Sy adds powerful dramatic shading to his usual irresistible charm, while Gainsbourg hints at a sunnier disposition beneath her volatile nervousness.
- 50Village VoiceVillage VoiceSamba's relationship with Alice (Charlotte Gainsbourg), a volunteer at an immigration advocacy center, has moments of sweetness, but is painted in too-broad brushstrokes.
- 42The PlaylistNikola GrozdanovicThe PlaylistNikola GrozdanovicIt’s a love story set in a contemporary world brimming with immigration issues, but it manages to be neither political drama, nor bubbly romance, somehow getting away with being labeled as a comedy.
- 40The GuardianPeter BradshawThe GuardianPeter BradshawIt is refreshing that this story does not simply unravel into miserablism, but the film’s weird narrative leaps are implausible and jarring.
- 40The Hollywood ReporterJordan MintzerThe Hollywood ReporterJordan MintzerNeither funny enough as an outright comedy nor solid enough as a drama, and certainly not believable as an affaire de coeur.
- On the evidence of their worldwide smash "The Intouchables," as well as their latest comedy-drama Samba, writer-directors Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano specialize in well-intentioned, crowd-pleasing bullshit.