Bon Voyage

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

The story is engrossing, full of thrills and humor, the period re-creation wondrous and the pace intoxicatingly brisk. And the actors are all so good and their parts so well-written that we're engaged emotionally as well.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold

Works best of all as an epic. It wonderfully creates a world of fractured deco elegance and endless human duplicity in which everyone is on the run -- exactly the kind of incisive, seemingly effortless historical spectacle that the French have learned to do so much better than Hollywood.

Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas

Not long into this most exhilarating and enjoyable of movies, it becomes reminiscent of such vintage jewels as Carol Reed's simultaneously thrilling and amusing "Night Train to Munich."

The Hollywood Reporter Judith Prescott

It is a beautifully crafted film with a star-studded cast, directed with a lightness of touch.

Variety Lisa Nesselson

A rousing, well-crafted romp packed with ingenuity, duplicity, close calls and heroic gestures, Bon Voyage is true to its title.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

This is a grand, confident entertainment, sure of the power of Adjani, Depardieu and the others, and sure of itself.

Empire David Parkinson

The result is both audaciously amusing and provocatively sophisticated.

The New York Times Stephen Holden

Blurs the line between comedy and epic drama so adroitly that the two styles fuse into something quite original: a lyrical farce that pays homage to its period in any number of ways.

Salon.com Charles Taylor

Watching it is a little like stumbling upon a frayed valentine you put away years ago and then laughing with pleasure at how much it still means to you.

Boston Globe Ty Burr

This is a film lover's film, and as if to underscore the point, Bon Voyage opens and closes in a movie theater.

San Francisco Chronicle Ruthe Stein

A bit of fluff expertly made and a hoot to watch.

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

At times, the giddy tone makes it feel like a musical set on the eve of Pearl Harbor, but the acting is uniformly good and it's an absolutely gorgeous film to watch.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

It’s sexy, suspenseful fun, and gorgeous-looking to boot.

USA Today Mike Clark

The filmmaker's new subject, the German occupation of France, has been treated with the seriousness it deserves in countless movies over the past half-century. This treatment is light and breezy for a change, though not altogether frivolous.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

A picture that gallops forward as soon as it breaks out of the gate. Anyone with an open mind and curiosity about history might enjoy it.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

A high-wire act of storytelling, tone and old-fashioned chutzpah.

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

Bon Voyage arrives like one of those old soldiers who stumbles from his hiding place unaware that the war is over and the world has changed -- and with it, French cinema.

The New Yorker David Denby

No more than a shallow, style-mad entertainment, but it never flags or loses its balance, and, despite the theatricality of the staging and the acting, it’s precisely the materiality of the cinema--that makes us devour it with pleasure. [29 March 2004, p. 103]

The New Republic Stanley Kauffmann

The result is a picture that, moving through political and social chaos, is stubbornly amusing.

Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten

This portrait of 1940 France on the verge of capitulating to the Vichy regime is intriguing. However, what keeps the movie engaging is its nutty tone.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

Unfortunately, a little too much pointless running around coupled with the underdevelopment of several key characters results in a movie that's never more than mildly diverting.

Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan

Despite this tale's surface sheen and propulsive momentum, it never transports one very far.

Dallas Observer Gregory Weinkauf

The stately pacing and meandering plot often reduce this potential classic to generous eye candy.

Chicago Reader Andrea Gronvall

It's well mounted and lushly photographed, and Rappeneau deftly orchestrates the crowd scenes as Parisian elites flock to Bordeaux, but the large cast doesn't mesh.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen

The result is nothing if not a curiosity piece.

Village Voice David Ng

Relies on its considerable star power to conceal its even more considerable lack of substance.

New York Post V.A. Musetto

Things move so swiftly and confusingly that there's little time to explore any of the people in depth. Less style and more substance is definitely called for.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

It's just plain exhausting to watch the admirably game cast members running around like headless chickens in chic period clothes, surrendering their dignity to the task of navigating the plot's frenetic contrivances.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias

Whenever Rappeneau stays close to Adjani, the film briefly soars on her giddy self-absorption--particularly in the first hour, when it hasn't been sullied by misfortune. But ultimately, the big stars are just window dressing for an expensive nothing.

LA Weekly Ron Stringer

The cast's sometimes capable, sometimes gross mugging is overwhelmed by lavish costumes, shiny vintage cars, hordes of meticulously directed extras, and the here-incongruous seriousness with which the French still regard this momentous, if humiliating, chapter of their national history.