Monsieur Lazhar 2011

Stephen Holden, New York Times: "Monsieur Lazhar" sustains an exquisite balance between grown-up and child's-eye views of education, teacher-student relations and peer-group interactions. Read more

David Edelstein, New York Magazine/Vulture: Ineffably sad-yet there's almost no loitering. The film is crisp, evenly paced, its colors bright, as sharp as the winter cold. Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: What makes the film enthralling is the wisdom and grace with which it addresses the twin subjects of grief and healing, and the quiet beauty of Mohamed Fellag's performance in the title role. Read more

John Hartl, Seattle Times: "Monsieur Lazhar" is a complex, multilayered tale that reveals new meanings as it introduces each new character. Read more

John Semley, AV Club: Falardeau offers a film as believably wrenching, and finally cathartic, as the grieving process itself. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: A gentle film can still be searing in its effect on an audience, something that "Monsieur Lazhar" proves emphatically. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: What could be didactic is rendered life-size and indelible, even with the cards that Falardeau has carefully stacked. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: A standard liberal tale about an inspirational teacher gradually deepens into a quiet study of how grief works its way through a community. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: It's all a bit neat. But whatever the film's limitations, it's certainly engaging to watch. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: The French-Canadian film Monsieur Lazhar has one of the most powerful openings I've ever seen in a movie. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: How do we get past tragedy? Together. Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: The movie's tonic lack of sentimentality binds the various griefs together into something moving. Read more

Stephen Farber, Hollywood Reporter: Canada's foreign-language submission is a searing classroom drama about grief that should be an Oscar front-runner. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: This film deals almost casually with a range of issues and themes, handling with a light and even affectionate touch weighty subjects like grief, guilt, community and love. Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: The film leaves you hopeful, and even exhilarated, that even the most painful wounds can sometimes heal. Read more

John Anderson, Newsday: Though it's a bit too early to say that it's an unforgettable movie, one suspects it is. It's also about so many things it nearly defies explanation. Read more

David Denby, New Yorker: Monsieur Lazhar is so discreet that it never quite comes to life. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: The film, alas, seems determined to be as careful, as gentle, as Lazhar himself. Read more

Bob Mondello, NPR: Fellag, a comedian and himself an exile from Algeria, makes Lazhar both a sensitive and an amusing figure. And the kids are just terrific, especially Emilien Neron as a boy who carries the guilt of the whole school on his shoulders. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: Falarde, in adapting a play, has a sweet, humanistic approach reminiscent of Bill Forsyth's '80s dramedies that lets "Lazhar's" protagonist and his class shine. Read more

Kyle Smith, New York Post: Like a dedicated teacher, this is a film that stays with you. Read more

Rex Reed, New York Observer: Monsieur Lazhar builds hope in the face of tragedy and sheds new light on the question of what is truth and how we find it. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: A sad, reflective study of the possibilities, and the impossibilities, inherent in the teacher-student relationship. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: Its purpose is to present us with a situation, explore the people involved and show us a man who is dealing with his own deep hurts. Read more

Walter V. Addiego, San Francisco Chronicle: An understated story of coping with emotional blows that offers a compelling portrait of a decent man. Read more

Dana Stevens, Slate: Fellag, an Algerian comedian and humor writer, anchors the film as the ineffable Bachir, a man who's so private that even the third-act revelation of his back story doesn't fully explain his motivations to us (nor would we want it to). Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: The film is rich in naturalistic, tossed-off details. Read more

Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Although it raises timeless questions about life and loss, and timely ones about mentorship and multiculturalism, "Monsieur Lazhar" would rather teach than preach. Read more

Jennie Punter, Globe and Mail: An exquisite, humanistic and subtly topical work of cinema art that manages to keep the intimate, revelatory sensibility of a one-man play intact while fleshing out the characters and creating a very realistic and richly detailed school community. Read more

Cath Clarke, Time Out: You could almost describe 'Monsieur Lazhar' as a morality tale, but it's more thought-provoking than debate-provoking. Read more

Eric Hynes, Time Out: Fellag does for the film what his Lazhar does for the pupils: He's soothing and entrancingly enigmatic enough to keep us fixed to our seats. Read more

Stanley Kauffmann, The New Republic: With a few folds, this story could have made a script for John Barrymore, like Topaze, or for Chaplin. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: It's a tapestry of fraught relationships, weaving issues of parental authority, social taboos and national boundaries. Empathy comes through understanding, but it's not easily achieved. It never is. Read more

Boyd van Hoeij, Variety: Quietly intelligent and respectable, much like its protag. Read more

Michelle Orange, Village Voice: Nelisse, with her tough, Courtney Love puss, and Neron's portrayal of a boy's well-defended torment are extraordinary, as is the film's realization of the small, temporary world that surrounds them. Read more

Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: "Monsieur Lazhar" is good. Really good. Read more