Desplechin's joyful, complex study of the constant contradiction and struggle in family life is a wondrous thing to experience. Recalls FANNY AND ALEXANDER even as it sends up the most classic holiday weekend cliches.

Superb movie. Maw should do herself a favor and stay away from complex, life-like contemporary French films. They are all deliberately "formless," like this one, because they're trying to imitate life, not wish it away.

This movie is about an hour too long. The director makes the fundamental mistake of doing much more telling than showing, which left me feeling absolutely nothing for any of the characters. The film is clumsily shot and and edited. Is anyone else tired of these devices of having a central "problem" (in this case a bone marrow transplant) that seems to relieve the filmmakers of any need to really flesh out their characters. Overrated and overlong.… Collapse

Agree with David K on this one. For any movie of this particular genre to be successful, the characters need to be likeable, the story needs to have some coherence and a semblence of direction, and it's helpful if the conflicts have a believeable resolution. This movie offers none of these, and feels extremely long. We walked out 20 minutes prior to the end, and probably should have left in the middle.… Expand

A dreadful, interminable film. I love European cinema, especially movies from France. But this was painful to sit through. For goodness sakes, stay away.

i'm not surprised by the middling user reviews for this. it's definitely artistic and unamerican (am i being redundant?), and it's not something that's easy to digest. that said, it contains real people and real emotions, something sadly missing from most movies these days. after viewing, i felt as if i had spent christmas with the family - a neat trick.

How could anyone criticize a move that all the critics seem to love? I tend to like "art" movies with subtitles, but sitting through this darm family reunion was like a trip to the dentist's office: I kept wondering when it would end. At least the dentist's office with clean teeth... but here? This movie contained two and a half hours of lingering resentment, maternal apathy, and a Christmas that nobody would feel nostalgic about -- leaving viewers with nothing but the question, "So What?" The best moment in the theater was when a man stood and declared, "I don't care if it's in French, it's still not a good movie." And then he bravely walked out -- leaving we posers behind. Give me a root canal any day.… Expand

Snappy editing? OVER-EDITING. Too many jump cuts that drench the emotion out of a scene. Where are the infamous French tracking-shots and long takes? Also, over-scored. One doesn't need to hear a plethora of music to get the point. Otherwise, impeccably written, acted and directed. But really, more work in the editing room: less editing, that is...just let the scenes flow.