Intouchables 2011

Richard Corliss, TIME Magazine: Not a great film but a warm one that pushes the viewer's emotional buttons so deftly it feels like a massage. Read more

Christy Lemire, Associated Press: Cluzet has the daunting task of trying to strike a powerful contrast while acting only from the neck up, and he pulls it off with stoic, bemused grace. Read more

Kathleen Murphy, MSN Movies: Savoring such moments... is like selling your soul to the devil. You'll pay for it later, but they please as they play. Read more

A.O. Scott, New York Times: It is possible to summarize the experience of watching "The Intouchables" in nine words: You will laugh; you will cry; you will cringe. Read more

Rex Reed, New York Observer: It has warmth, humor and an understated sweetness that is not to be taken for granted. Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: The film fulfills its feel-good promise, as long as it's seen as the fairy tale it was meant to be. Read more

Sam Adams, AV Club: Sy and Cluzet give their parts more conviction than they deserve, even when the former is forced to re-enact the falsetto-singing-in-the-bubblebath bit from Pretty Woman. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: There are plenty of reasons not to like "The Intouchables," but Omar Sy's terrific performance blows right past them. Read more

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: I checked the production materials for "The Intouchables" and failed to find confirmation that any of this was inspired by 1987's "Disorderlies," in which the Fat Boys push old Ralph Bellamy around to his heart's content. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: A box office phenomenon in France, this crowd-pleasing drama is based on a true story but sticks closely to the template for a Hollywood buddy movie. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: Movies in which black characters, however nuanced or well meaning, act in subservience to whites, often raise hackles. For me, it all depends on how it's done. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: "The Intouchables" is actually quite touchable. Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: Apart from the wince-inducing moments, The Intouchables is often a pleasant buddy picture. Read more

Sheri Linden, Los Angeles Times: The material is programmed to stimulate funny bones and tear ducts in a reassuring alternating pattern. Read more

Michael Nordine, L.A. Weekly: Gives its subject too light a treatment for the life-affirming message to feel earned. Read more

John Anderson, Newsday: If you loved "The Bucket List," you'll be exclaiming, "Incroyable!" Read more

David Denby, New Yorker: The film is an embarrassment. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: Two very different men, joined for purely businesslike purposes, finding their way to an intuitive, interdependent and quietly fulfilling union. Read more

Mark Jenkins, NPR: The movie, while inherently patronizing, is frisky and mostly likable. But its amiability depends on airbrushing potential sources of misunderstanding, both cultural and political. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: This French dramedy is totally winning, with a pair of performances that fit together perfectly. Read more

Farran Smith Nehme, New York Post: From "It Happened One Night" to "Trading Places," it's yet another entry in the category of "rich people need ordinary folks to show them how to live it up." Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: It's the classic odd-couple buddy movie setup, only it'll pull at your heartstrings, whether you want it to or not. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: Enjoy this movie for what it is - the kind of motion picture that can cause Champaign-like giddiness - and don't obsess over how true-to-life this work of fiction is. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: "The Intouchables" has an element of truth that it never quite recognizes. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: What I see in The Intouchables is a tasty bonbon spiked with mirth but light on malice. Omar Sy and Francois Cluzet are superb actors. Read more

Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com: I enjoyed "The Intouchables" quite a bit. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: Some of the elements in the film are inexplicable and some are undeveloped, but there are a handful of nicely crafted set pieces. Read more

Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: The easygoing posture and strong casting keep The Intouchables from stumbling over vexing questions of race, class and disability. Read more

Jon Frosch, The Atlantic: It's hard to muster much enthusiasm for a movie that leans so heavily on regressive culture-clash shtick and unimaginative stereotypes. Read more

Stephen Cole, Globe and Mail: The Intouchables works as a crowd-pleaser not because it's true, but because it's a plausible enchantment. Read more

Anna Smith, Time Out: It delivers broad laughs and tugs at the heartstrings without delving too deep - the very definition of a crowd-pleaser. Read more

Keith Uhlich, Time Out: There isn't a rough-edged subtlety that the film-based on a true story-doesn't make every effort to soften for mass consumption... Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: You don't have to completely buy into the premise of The Intouchables to appreciate the very good acting by Cluzet and Sy. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: An exuberantly charming French buddy comedy that proves an audience will suspend disbelief and follow an unlikely story as long as it's superbly crafted. Read more

Jay Weissberg, Variety: Though never known for their subtlety, French co-helmers/scripters Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache have never delivered a film as offensive as Untouchable. Read more

Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post: More than a little unrealistic. Read more