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88A brisk dramatic comedy that combines melodrama, humor and social critique in equal measure.
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80Caramel 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.
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80An effective look at women's lives in a decidedly non-Hollywood setting.
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80It 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.
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75Labaki, who studied filmmaking in Lebanon and France, has a deft touch and nice instincts.
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75Well-made and modestly enjoyable.
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75Caramel is a sweeter and more believable version of "Steel Magnolias," Middle Eastern style.
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75Warmly shot (by Yves Sehnaoui) and comes with a strong, burbling soundtrack of Arab pop; it slides down easily and occasionally too easily.
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75The 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.
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75A Lebanese variation on sweetly soapy dramas about Women Who Bond With Wet Hair.
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75It 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.
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75At its best, Caramel boasts a quietly engaging slice-of-slice casualness.
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75In 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."
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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.
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70It's a reassuring and delicious film, but in no sense an adventurous one.
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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.
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70It 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.
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70You 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.
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70Fresh 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.
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70All 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.
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70Smarter and more poignant than the average chick flick.
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67The 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.
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63It'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.
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63The most unexpected thing about the Lebanese film Caramel is its predictability.
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The film itself, while charming and gently funny, is entirely unexceptional.
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50Caramel, 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.
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User score distribution:
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Positive: 11 out of 12
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Mixed: 1 out of 12
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Negative: 0 out of 12
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HumprtP4Too many clichés. Too excited. But beautifuly filmed, nice warm atmosphere.
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JoseS.10Very good film. Keep the good work Nadine.