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Le Grand Role
First Run Features

Le Grand Role reviews
Critic Score
Metascore: 43 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
8.0 out of 10
based on 10 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 1 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

MPAA RATING:

Starring Stéphane Freiss, Bérénice Bejo, Peter Coyote, Lionel Abelanski, François Berléand, Olivier Sitruk, Laurent Bateau, and Mickaël Sabah

For years, friends and actors Maurice, Sami, Simon, Elie, and Edouard have been waiting for their big break. The future looks bright when famous American director Rudolph Grichenberg (Coyote) offers Maurice the part of Shylock in his Yiddish screen adaptation of "The Merchant of Venice". But his fortunes reverse quickly when Maurice learns that his beloved wife Perla is seriously ill. With his friends' help, Maurice takes on the greatest role of his life, and in playing his part, illuminates the meaning of art, love, and truth. (First Run Features)


GENRE(S): Comedy  |  Drama  |  Foreign  
WRITTEN BY: Daniel Cohen
Steve Suissa
Sophie Tepper
Daniel Goldenberg (book)
 
DIRECTED BY: Steve Suissa  
RELEASE DATE: DVD: November 22, 2005 
Theatrical: May 6, 2005 
RUNNING TIME: 89 minutes, Color 
ORIGIN: France 
LANGUAGE(S): French / Yiddish (with English subtitles) 

Nominated, Grand Prix, 2004 Paris Film Festival

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...

75
Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea
A comedy about friendship, faith and the acting life, Le Grand Role is unabashedly corny and tear-jerking - and still quite likable.
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70
Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas
It is a most tender love story, first and foremost, and a warm, affectionately humorous depiction of Kurz's close-knit Jewish friends and colleagues.
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70
Variety Eddie Cockrell
Predictable yet charming, The Grand Role is a crowd-pleasing dramatic comedy about love, friendship, role-playing and Jewish pride.
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60
The New York Times Anita Gates
Mr. Coyote, who appears to be playing Steven Spielberg and steals every scene he is in.
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50
Miami Herald Marta Barber
A good story, but its potential is never realized.
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40
The Onion (A.V. Club) Tasha Robinson
A short and soppy story that Coyote lends some dignity, but not much power.
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38
New York Post Kyle Smith
A shaky effort to make a point about art triumphing over all.
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38
New York Daily News Jami Bernard
Director and co-writer Steve Suissa misses every opportunity to go deeper, either for laughs or pathos.
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30
Village Voice David Ng
Chuckle-worthy jabs at American cultural imperialism aside, Le Grand Rôle has little to offer except a maudlin love story that ironically feels like a Tinseltown tearjerker facsimile.
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30
LA Weekly Ella Taylor
Half a notch above a vanity project, this chipper little number by French director Steve Suissa offers a deadly combination of shamelessness, narcissism and schoolboy comedy.
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What Our Users Said

Vote Now!The average user rating for this movie is 8.0 (out of 10) based on 1 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

stevio p. gave it an8:
Amusing film about a tight knit group of Jewish French actors living in Paris. A tradegy-comedy which has its moving moments. Give it a go.

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