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Cup, The

Generally favorable reviews
Based on 23 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 2 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Comedy
Written by: Khyentse Norbu
Directed by: Khyentse Norbu
Release Date:
Theatrical: January 28, 2000
Running Time: 94 minutes, Color
Origin: Bhutan / Australia
Language(s): Hindi / Tibetan (with English subtitles)
Summary
RATING: G for General Audiences
Starring Jamyang Lodro, Orgyen Tobgyal, and Neten Chokling
World Cup fever has reached the Indian Himalayas in this comedy about the lighter side of life in a Tibetan Buddhist monastery. This touching story tackles the issues of winning and losing, life in exile and the impact of the modern world on a highly traditional lifestyle. (Palm Pictures)
Also On Metacritic
FILM: Travellers & Magicians
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
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...
Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt
The first feature-length movie from Bhutan tells its lighthearted story through smart performances, appealing images, and unfailing good humor.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Desson Thomson
A chalice of unpretentious delight, flowing over with goodwill, a cheeky love for soccer and, uh, Buddhist humor.
Read Full Review >New York Post Hannah Brown
So joyous it can actually shake viewers out of a bad mood.
Dallas Observer Andy Klein
This sweet little movie is a mild comedy, a much calmer cousin to "Sister Act," with men in robes rather than women in habits.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Dana Stevens
A very funny movie, alive with a sense of absurdity and human foible.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Peter Stack
The glimpses of religious life bumping into secular passion are touching and warmly comic.
Read Full Review >Baltimore Sun Ann Hornaday
It's a clear-eyed, unsentimental portrait and indelible for that very reason.
Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
A delightful demonstration of how spirituality can coexist quite happily with an intense desire for France to defeat Brazil.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez
Past the foreign mysticism and eccentricity of Tibetan Buddhism to portray its characters as unmistakably, identifiably human.
New York Daily News Jack Mathews
Could well end up on the coming Oscar ballot for best foreign language film.
Read Full Review >Film.com Elizabeth Weitzman
Wouldn't you rather learn about his culture from Norbu than from Richard Gere?
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan
Charming, slyly comic and far from conventionally religious.
TV Guide Ken Fox
The tragedy of modern Tibet haunts this otherwise lighthearted tale of life inside a Buddhist monastery-in-exile.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov
While never dull, The Cup is a leisurely, quiet film, rife with staid, sometimes ponderous moments reflecting the seriousness of their situation in exile.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey
An improbably funny and transcendent account of soccer-mad Tibetan monks in exile at a Bhutan monastery.
LA Weekly Ella Taylor
Though The Cup is lovely to look at, it has none of the ceremonial rigor mortis of Scorsese's "Kundun."
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum
Norbu tries too hard to please and charm, but his film at least carries the advantages of unactorly faces and a premise based on actual events that dramatizes the issue of religious vocation in a secular world.
Read Full Review >Mr. Showbiz Michael Atkinson
A cute, clichéd, coming-of-age comedy.
Seattle Post-Intelligencer Paula Nechak
Never offers much enlightenment through its message.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
Little more than a plodding celebration of global television trumping everything in its midst.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 7.5 (out of 10) based on 2 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Jacques R. gave it a 7:
A must-see for anyone who has a passion for watching football (soccer to you Yanks)(and a should-see for everyone else)!
