GAMES: GameSpot | GameFAQs MUSIC: Last.fm | MP3.com MOVIES: Metacritic | Movietome TV: TV.com
Home | About Metacritic | About Metascores | What's New | Wireless Versions | Discussion Forums | Advertising Inquiries | Contact Us | RSS
Metacritic.com: We Deal With Criticism
     Help
> Switch to Advanced Search  
Film Video/DVD Music Games TV

Film

Upcoming Release Calendar
Weekend Box Office
Film Awards & Top 10s By Year
All-Time High Scores
All-Time Low Scores
How Metascores Are Calculated
Discuss Film In Our Forums

 

Wide Releases

sort by name sort by score

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

 

Limited Releases

sort by name sort by score

67 $9.99
75 24 City
66 Adoration
74 Afghan Star
48 Alien Trespass
56 American Violet
82 Anvil! The Story of Anvil
57 Away We Go
81 Beaches of Agnes, The
62 Big Man Japan
28 Big Shot-Caller, The
78 Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story, The
55 Brothers Bloom, The
82 Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country
xx Call of the Wild
63 Cheri
62 Cherry Blossoms
63 Dead Snow
65 Departures
18 Downloading Nancy
58 Easy Virtue
70 End of the Line, The
77 Every Little Step
64 Examined Life
80 Food, Inc.
38 Gigantic
56 Girl from Monaco, The
67 Girlfriend Experience, The
87 Gomorrah
89 Goodbye Solo
63 Great Buck Howard, The
79 Harvard Beats Yale 29-29
xx Home
82 Hunger
91 Hurt Locker, The
16 I Hate Valentine's Day
81 Il Divo
54 Is Anybody There?
71 Jerichow
58 Julia
74 Lemon Tree
36 Life is Hot in Cracktown
40 Limits of Control, The
42 Little Ashes
64 Lymelife
50 Management
57 Merry Gentleman, The
66 Moon
35 New York
62 Not Forgotten
xx Offshore
78 O'Horten
64 Outrage
40 Paris 36
54 Pontypool
71 Pressure Cooker
52 Quiet Chaos
83 Revanche
67 Rudo y Cursi
86 Seraphine
65 Sex Positive
70 Shall We Kiss?
77 Sin Nombre
59 Sleep Dealer
74 Song of Sparrows, The
54 Stoning of Soraya M., The
82 Sugar
84 Summer Hours
61 Sunshine Cleaning
28 Surveillance
42 Tennessee
63 Tetro
64 Throw Down Your Heart
80 Tokyo Sonata
63 Tokyo!
70 Tony Manero
74 Treeless Mountain
88 Tulpan
74 Two Lovers
83 Tyson
83 U2 3D
60 Under Our Skin
69 Unmistaken Child
69 Valentino: The Last Emperor
22 What Goes Up
45 Whatever Works
57 Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

 



Printer-Friendly Version Email This Page Discuss In Our Forums

Caramel
Roadside Attractions

Caramel reviews
Critic Score
Metascore: 70 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
8.8 out of 10
based on 26 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 16 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

MPAA RATING: PG for thematic elements involving sexuality, language and some smoking

Starring Nadine Labaki, Yasmine Elmasri, Joanna Mkarzel, and Gisèle Osta

In Beirut, five women meet regularly in a beauty salon, a colorful and sensual microcosm of the city where several generations come into contact, talk and confide in each other. In the salon, their intimate and liberated conversations revolve around men, sex and motherhood, between haircuts and sugar waxing with caramel. (Roadside Attractions)


GENRE(S): Comedy  |  Romance  
WRITTEN BY: Nadine Labaki  
DIRECTED BY: Nadine Labaki  
RELEASE DATE: DVD: June 17, 2008 
Theatrical: February 1, 2008 
RUNNING TIME: 95 minutes, Color 
ORIGIN: France / Lebanon 
LANGUAGE(S): Arabic / French 

Alternative Title: Sukkar banat

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

88
TV Guide Ken Fox
A brisk dramatic comedy that combines melodrama, humor and social critique in equal measure.
Read Full Review
80
Empire Angie Errigo
An effective look at women's lives in a decidedly non-Hollywood setting.
Read Full Review
80
Film Threat Jeff Beresford-Howe
Caramel will likely be the Lebanese selection for Academy Award for “Best Foreign Film;” it’s inconceivable to me that it won’t win, but it’ll still be an injustice if it does. Caramel deserves to be in the categories with the big boys, so to speak, and whoever wins for Best Actress will be the second most deserving actress of 2007.
Read Full Review
80
Time Richard Schickel
It may be a first film, but Labaki, employing a cast that is full of non-professional actresses, is a slick and knowing filmmaker. Her multiple plot lines are neatly braided and though her characters are conventionalized they are also charming and capable of surprising us.
Read Full Review
75
Boston Globe Ty Burr
Warmly shot (by Yves Sehnaoui) and comes with a strong, burbling soundtrack of Arab pop; it slides down easily and occasionally too easily.
Read Full Review
75
San Francisco Chronicle Walter Addiego
Well-made and modestly enjoyable.
Read Full Review
75
Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer
In some ways, this glossily enjoyable movie is a lot closer to Hollywood than Beirut. At times, I thought I was watching some oddball Lebanese variant on "Barbershop."
Read Full Review
75
Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea
Labaki, who studied filmmaking in Lebanon and France, has a deft touch and nice instincts.
Read Full Review
75
Premiere Ryan Stewart
The penetrating musical score, with its memorable shadings of emotional danger, the snappy and confident pacing and the emergence of 33-year-old Labaki as an international talent to watch all combine to make the film satisfying confection.
Read Full Review
75
Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum
A Lebanese variation on sweetly soapy dramas about Women Who Bond With Wet Hair.
Read Full Review
75
The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin
At its best, Caramel boasts a quietly engaging slice-of-slice casualness.
Read Full Review
75
USA Today Claudia Puig
Caramel is a sweeter and more believable version of "Steel Magnolias," Middle Eastern style.
Read Full Review
75
Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold
It would be easy to categorize the Lebanese women's picture Caramel as a Levantine combination of "Sex in the City" and "Beauty Shop," but it's actually a lot smarter, sharper and deeper than that.
Read Full Review
70
Washington Post Ann Hornaday
Smarter and more poignant than the average chick flick.
Read Full Review
70
Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan
It is sweet but not saccharine, an intimate film that doesn't stint on the desperation and anxiety that go along with the search for love.
Read Full Review
70
The New York Times A.O. Scott
You are likely to remember this charming film, directed by Nadine Labaki, less for its gently comic, mildly melodramatic plot than for its friendly and inviting atmosphere.
Read Full Review
70
Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern
All but one of the actresses in Caramel are nonprofessionals -- not unprofessional, just untrained in the craft -- and they are, to a woman, enchanting. So is this Lebanese comedy.
Read Full Review
70
Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir
It's a reassuring and delicious film, but in no sense an adventurous one.
Read Full Review
70
The Hollywood Reporter John DeFore
Warm-hearted and accessible, it could benefit from good word of mouth in a limited art house run, particularly among audiences who like their rom-coms laced with foreign ingredients.
Read Full Review
70
Variety Jay Weissberg
Fresh from commercials and musicvids, novice helmer (and star) Nadine Labaki gathers five women around a Beirut beauty salon to address a range of issues facing Lebanese women -- from extramarital affairs to religious dictates. Low on calories and not especially original but always diverting.
Read Full Review
70
Village Voice Ella Taylor
Beauty-parlor romantic comedy has been done to death and beyond, but what Caramel lacks in originality is redeemed by its exuberant sensuality and astute commentary on the way Lebanese women sit uncomfortably in the crosshairs of their country’s clash between patriarchal tradition and Westernized modernity.
Read Full Review
67
Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten
The first-time feature director, co-writer, and star of Caramel, Labaki, can be forgiven the commonness of her dramatic setting because of the gracefulness of her storytelling and the strength of her vision.
Read Full Review
63
ReelViews James Berardinelli
It's refreshing for a romantic comedy not to follow the formula by rote. I only wish I could be as enthusiastic about the amount of screen time accorded to certain characters who are more tedious than endearing.
Read Full Review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey
The most unexpected thing about the Lebanese film Caramel is its predictability.
Read Full Review
50
New York Post V.A. Musetto
Caramel, by the way, gets its name from a blend of sugar, lemon juice and water that is boiled until it turns into a paste used to remove unwanted hair in the Middle East.
Read Full Review
50
Chicago Tribune Tasha Robinson
The film itself, while charming and gently funny, is entirely unexceptional.
Read Full Review

What Our Users Said

Vote Now!The average user rating for this movie is 8.8 (out of 10) based on 16 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Humprt P gave it a4:
Too many clichés. Too excited. But beautifuly filmed, nice warm atmosphere.

Jose S. gave it a10:
Very good film. Keep the good work Nadine.

Marc K. gave it an8:
A very pleasant surprise in so many ways. Extremely well done.

Trevor gave it a6:
Average, but kind of dull. I didn't find any of the characters too engaging.

Peter K. gave it a10:
A charming and lovely Lebanese film with superb music and exceptional characterizations - at once both universal and yet distinctively Lebanese: it pursues a group of women seeking beauty and love in a society which may or may not permit that search. I adore this film and highly recommend it.

Jay H. gave it a7:
Poignant and moving, perceptively directed by Nadine Labaki. Most of the acting is excellent. Fascinating film throughout, so touchingly done. It shows how similar we all are, no matter where in the world.

Yiannis M. gave it a10:
This movie is as sweet as a caramel and a chocolate! And you need a chocolate bar every single day! I am watching this movie every day and the chocolate melts in my mouth! Well done Nadine and Lebanon! May peace come back to you!

Read more user comments...

Discuss this movie in our forums

Return to top of page
Home | FILM | DVD/VIDEO | MUSIC | GAMES | TV | Forums | About Metacritic metacritic.com

Popular on CBS sites: iPhone 3G | Fantasy Football | Moneywatch | Antivirus Software | Recipes | E3 2009

About CBS Interactive | Jobs | Advertise

© 2009 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use