Faubourg 36 2008

David Edelstein, New York Magazine/Vulture: My tolerance for French kitsch is low and French accordion music lower, so that I stayed in my seat bodes well for the film's commercial prospects. Read more

Andrea Gronvall, Chicago Reader: Essentially a pastiche, as musty as a flea market. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: Paris 36 is perhaps overlong for what it is, and it's certainly feather-light, but it gives its watcher an uncomplicated pleasure; like looking through a faded scrapbook, filled with memories once bright. Read more

Keith Phipps, AV Club: A handsomely mounted but achingly undistinguished film from writer-director Christophe Barratier. Read more

Ethan Gilsdorf, Boston Globe: In the clumsy hands of Barratier, whose last film, The Chorus, irked many as maudlin, Paris 36 becomes a mostly pointless exercise in nostalgia. Read more

Mick LaSalle, Houston Chronicle: Somehow its value is never communicated to the audience in a felt way. Or maybe that's simply the crucial aspect of Paris 36 that didn't make it safely across the Atlantic. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: The film is deliberately old-fashioned in its approach; the story line is resolutely linear and the production values are deluxe. It all makes for a fairly enjoyable, if schematic, backstage extravaganza. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: The 'spicy' numbers have no dazzle, the actors mug like contestants in a Maurice Chevalier impersonation contest, and the plot is a drily indigestible wad of show-must-go-on preciousness and socialist sentimentality. Read more

Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times: An irresistible and impeccable period musical set against the political and economic turmoil of France in the mid-'30s. Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: Though unabashedly sentimental, Christophe Barratier's old-fashioned musical is so eager to please, even cynics may be seduced. Read more

Lou Lumenick, New York Post: A shamelessly melodramatic series of romantic, financial and political crises embroil a rundown music hall in Paris 36, a gleaming hunk of French period schmaltz expertly rendered by director Christophe Barratier. Read more

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: An utterly charming and sentimental French melodrama with music, a nostalgic look backstage and back in history. Read more

Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer: The nicest that can be said of this unapologetically schmaltzy, and not unenjoyable, affair is that it is the best 1936 musical made in 2009. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: The movie otherwise lacks a certain energy, advances somewhat creakily through its plot and contains mostly obligatory surprises. Still, it's pleasant and amusing. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: It's an overstuffed homage to a bygone style of show business rather than a vigorous piece of entertainment on its own. Read more

Calvin Wilson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: If you're a Francophile, it may be worth a look. But it's no Moulin Rouge. Read more

Wally Hammond, Time Out: Colourful, undemanding musical melodrama. Read more

Eddie Cockrell, Variety: A bracingly old-fashioned, lushly visualized showbiz meller set against pre-World War II Gallic political unrest. Read more

Melissa Anderson, Village Voice: Assault by relentless accordion-playing, Paris 36 proves that sometimes, imitation is the highest form of flatulence. Read more

Mike Mayo, Washington Post: Paris 36 is a handsomely made French musical that never really soars. Read more