CNET Networks Entertainment GameSpot | GameFAQs | SportsGamer | Metacritic | MP3.com | 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 Books TV
Printer-Friendly Version Email This Page Discuss In Our Forums

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

97 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
83 Alexandra
43 Anamorph
35 Babysitters, The
32 Backseat
80 Band's Visit, The
62 Battle for Haditha
47 Bella
63 Blind Mountain
71 Blindsight
47 Boarding Gate
63 Body of War
58 Bra Boys
70 Caramel
54 Cashback
44 Chaos Theory
32 Chapter 27
69 Chicago 10
82 Chop Shop
46 CJ7
78 Counterfeiters, The
30 Cover
48 Dark Matter
35 Deal
61 Dhamma Brothers, The
92 Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The
73 Duchess of Langeais, The
20 Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed
58 Fall, The
43 Favor, The
58 First Saturday in May, The
57 Flawless
87 Flight of the Red Balloon, The
xx From Within
44 Frontier(s)
59 Fugitive Pieces
41 Funny Games
66 George A. Romero's Diary of the Dead
61 Girls Rock!
55 Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts
57 Grand, The
58 Hats Off
68 Honeydripper
xx Jack and Jill vs. the World
67 Jellyfish
xx Kiss the Bride
37 Life Before Her Eyes, The
72 Life of Reilly, The
50 Look
65 Married Life
35 Meet Bill
63 Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
54 Mister Lonely
52 My Blueberry Nights
71 My Brother Is an Only Child
52 Noise
61 OSS 117: Cairo - Nest of Spies
83 Paranoid Park
55 Pathology
48 Penelope
90 Persepolis
62 Planet B-Boy
xx Plumm Summer, A
67 Praying with Lior
46 Previous Engagement, A
72 Priceless
17 Prom Night
69 Redbelt
72 Roman de gare
48 Run, Fat Boy, Run
85 Savages, The
24 Sex and Death 101
66 Shelter
75 Shotgun Stories
40 Sleepwalking
67 Snow Angels
64 Son of Rambow
71 Standard Operating Procedure
76 Stuff and Dough
64 Surfwise
xx Tashan
82 Taxi to the Dark Side
57 Teeth
56 Then She Found Me
55 Tracey Fragments, The
56 Turn the River
72 Tuya's Marriage
83 U2 3D
59 Under the Same Moon
76 Unforeseen, The
xx Unsettled
91 Up the Yangtze
55 Vice
79 Visitor, The
64 Water Lilies
45 Where in the World Is Osama Bin Laden?
57 Without the King
74 Witnesses, The
63 XXY
67 Year My Parents Went on Vacation, The
75 Young@Heart
45 Zombie Strippers

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

Pauline and Paulette
Sony Pictures Classics

Pauline and Paulette reviews
Critic Score
Metascore: 70 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
8.5 out of 10
based on 23 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 4 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

MPAA RATING: PG for brief language

Starring Dora van der Groen, Ann Petersen, Rosemarie Bergmans, Idwig Stephane, Julienne De Bruyn, Camilia Blereau, François Beukelaers, and Nand Buyl

A delightfully bittersweet story of four elderly sisters and their relationship with each other. (Sony Pictures Classics)


GENRE(S): Drama  
WRITTEN BY: Jaak Boon
Lieven Debrauwer
 
DIRECTED BY: Lieven Debrauwer  
RELEASE DATE: DVD: August 13, 2002 
Video: August 13, 2002 
Theatrical: March 15, 2002 
RUNNING TIME: 78 minutes, Color 
ORIGIN: Belgium / France / Netherlands 
LANGUAGE(S): Flemish (with English subtitles) 

Original title in Belgium "Pauline en Paulette"

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...

90
Washington Post Desson Thomson
In this good-natured film, even the smallest efforts at kindness yield positive results.
Read Full Review
83
Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy
At the end, you're refreshed, like Pauline after she swallows an entire soft drink in one gulp, and it feels terrific.
Read Full Review
80
New Times (L.A.) Bill Gallo
Disturbing, beautifully acted movie.
Read Full Review
80
Variety Lisa Nesselson
Heartfelt and heart-rending performances make all the difference in Pauline and Paulette, a delightfully bittersweet story.
Read Full Review
80
Village Voice Leslie Camhi
Without condescension, Debrauwer offers comic glimpses into their separate dreams of grandeur, but he lets Pauline's touching simplicity unite them.
Read Full Review
80
The New York Times Dana Stevens
Rather than assaulting you with self-congratulatory tears, it leaves you with a bittersweet glow of wisdom and an appreciation of the small triumphs and difficult labors of love.
Read Full Review
80
Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan
This beguiling Belgian fable, very much its own droll and delicate little film, has some touching things to say about what is important in life and why.
Read Full Review
80
Chicago Reader Barbara Scharres
Might easily have been mawkish; instead it has a light comic edge and a dignity built on the fine characterization of Pauline.
Read Full Review
75
Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington
It's a moving tale of love and destruction in unexpected places, unexamined lives.
Read Full Review
75
Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt
Debrauwer brings crisp conviction to what might have been an overly sentimental tale, filming it with a straightforward style and good-natured sincerity that ring consistently true.
Read Full Review
75
Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold
With a steady eye and a warm (but never overtly sentimental) heart, it explores a territory where few movies have ventured before.
Read Full Review
75
Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea
Simple, poignant and leavened with humor, it's a film that affirms the nourishing aspects of love and companionship.
Read Full Review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Ray Conlogue
What a graceful movie this is.
Read Full Review
75
San Francisco Chronicle Edward Guthmann
van der Groen, described as "Belgium's national treasure," is especially terrific as Pauline.
Read Full Review
75
New York Post V.A. Musetto
They take a mundane story and give it emotional resonance.
Read Full Review
75
Boston Globe Jay Carr
Sentimental and has its heart on its sleeve, but never heavy-handedly so, and its delicacy and tenderness will get to you if you give it half a chance.
75
New York Daily News Jack Mathews
Plumbs the issue of sibling love and family responsibility in quietly powerful ways, and the performances of the two stars surpass convincing to reach a level of biographical realism.
70
LA Weekly Paul Malcolm
The film's plainness, and the understated force of van der Groen and Petersen's performances, sharpen its complexity of feeling until all mawkishness is cut away.
Read Full Review
70
TV Guide Ken Fox
The result is something truly special.
Read Full Review
67
Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten
A small-scale pleasure, a movie that truly stops and smells the roses.
Read Full Review
50
Miami Herald Marta Barber
With touches of humor throughout, the gentle and peaceful film never becomes depressing or sad.
Read Full Review
30
Washington Post Ann Hornaday
There is something disturbing about yet another iteration of what's become one of the movies' creepiest conventions, in which the developmentally disabled are portrayed with almost supernatural powers to humble, teach and ultimately redeem their mentally "superior" (read: morally inferior) friends, family and acquaintances.
Read Full Review
20
The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias
Debrauwer's characterization is as sharp and incisive as a butter knife.
Read Full Review

What Our Users Said

Vote Now!The average user rating for this movie is 8.5 (out of 10) based on 4 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Earl M. gave it a9:
A wonderful little movie with great performances by the lead actresses.

Leslie H. gave it a 9:
Un-sentimental, but touching anyway.

CG gave it a 7:
If you want to lean back and relax, this movie is a good one for that. The characters have qualities that are both exasperating and endearing making them really come alive. The subtitles are no problem. The movie is easy to follow.

Michele B. gave it a 9:
Amazing!!

Discuss this movie in our forums

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

About CNET Networks | Jobs | Advertise | Partnerships                                Visit other CNET Networks sites:

Copyright ©2007 CNET Networks, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms of Use