Joyeux Noël (2006)

5/10

Nominated for the 2005 Best Foreign Film Academy Award, "Noel" is the kind of sentimental tripe the Academy loves to honor in order to justify their own sentimental tripe.

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08/07/08

N/A

A surprisingly homogenous, organic and satisfying broad-canvas burst of ambitious, engaging cinema.

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03/01/07

4/5

Saber que o espetacular incidente relatado pelo longa realmente aconteceu é algo que, confesso, me reconforta imensamente.

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11/30/06

3/4

This true story seems like it can only be explained as 'a God thing,' and indeed, how else could something so extraordinary take place without divine intervention?

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09/25/06

N/A

It’s a respectful, sobering tribute to the flickering of humanitarian spirit amid the darkest days of conflict and, as such, surely a Christmas film for the ages.

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08/03/06

N/A

Offers enough of a sense of the strange stillness and fleeting promise that hovered over the early days of a bitter, cancerous war for just one evening to move even the most sentiment-hardened viewer.

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06/08/06

3.5/4

The story speaks to universal human emotions that transcend country and culture.

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05/19/06

79/100

...a dull and pretty play, oiled by syrup and lighted by golden candles.

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05/19/06

3/4

Carion's faith in his fellow man -- and you sense that wherever they are in the world, they're his fellow man -- is a touching dose of Christmas cheer that's unexpectedly welcome in mid-May.

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05/12/06

N/A

[D]ramatizes this bizarre moment in time with a straightforward aplomb that is devastating, that makes you wish you could laugh at the insanity and pointlessness of it but refuses all emotional response except overwhelming rage and grief.

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05/04/06

7/10

Writer-director Christian Carion doesn't achieve the depth of poignancy he may have aspired to, but his elegantly simple storytelling does illustrate the futility of the war that was supposed to end all wars.

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04/29/06

4/5

It's a marvelously entertaining history lesson -- glossy, emotional and touching.

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04/21/06

2.5/4

One of the few movies where its sentimentality actually works in its favor.

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04/21/06

N/A

In language and approach, [Carion's] movie tends toward maudlin self-importance; technically, it's at best inconsistent.

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04/20/06

2.5/4

Not a subtle movie. Nevertheless, the message is noble, moving, and worthwhile.

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04/14/06

3/4

A remarkable episode in the bloody history of what is still referred to -- with increasingly sickening irony -- as 'the war to end all wars.'

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04/14/06

4/4

Today's audience might find it hard to believe soldiers could shoot each other one day and play soccer together the next. Alas, this happened and Carion's screenplay is smart enough to make us believe ... even in the 21st century.

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04/10/06