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Divided We Fall
Metascore
69 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 23 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 18 out of 23
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 23
  3. Negative: 0 out of 23
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  1. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Lisa Schwarzbaum
    91
    The tonal elegance of this black comedy set in a dark time -- is boldly dependent on performances that tug at taut lines of moral complexity.
  2. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Kenneth Turan
    90
    Not only is the film that good, it's also that wonderfully, inescapably Czech.
  3. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Rita Kempley
    90
    Profound, powerful Czech import takes a tragicomic approach to the Holocaust, though unlike Benigni's film, the movie does not sentimentalize those caught up in the Nazi dragnet.
  4. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: Desmond Ryan
    88
    The film treats the ensuing issues of conscience and compromise with subtlety and warmth.
  5. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Jay Carr
    88
    The film's triumph - and it is a triumph - in the end rests on the ability of Hrebejk and his actors to convince us that they never stop being normal people.
    All this critic's reviews
  6. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: Ella Taylor
    80
    Divided We Fall briskly, often hilariously, forbids us to wallow in the specious comfort of untainted local heroes or irredeemable villains.
  7. Time
    Reviewed by: Richard Schickel
    80
    The result is a lovely movie, one that allows its characters unexpected spurts of growth and regression, darkness and grace.
    All this critic's reviews
  8. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Desson Thomson
    80
    Based on a true story, the movie takes us through some harrowing times.
  9. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Robert K. Elder
    75
    Has the literary richness, depth of character and tone that such a morally difficult, powerful narrative requires.
    All this critic's reviews
  10. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Jami Bernard
    75
    Parts of the movie play like French farce, but ultimately Hrebejk uses very simple cadences to unveil, movingly, the big picture.
  11. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Lou Lumenick
    75
    Hrebejik directs with a sure hand, deftly balancing comedy and drama in a most involving and satisfying manner.
    All this critic's reviews
  12. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Bob Graham
    75
    Audiences will talk about how satisfying this movie is.
  13. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Dana Stevens
    70
    The filmmakers explore not only the banality of evil, but also the banality of goodness, and the ridiculousness, as well as the tragedy, of their collision.
  14. Variety
    Reviewed by: Eddie Cockrell
    70
    Confronts an incendiary topic head-on with grace, style, compassion and exquisitely practical wit.
  15. Wall Street Journal
    Reviewed by: Joe Morgenstern
    70
    Bears no resemblance to the smarmy fraud that Roberto Benigni perpetrated in "Life Is Beautiful."
    All this critic's reviews
  16. New Times (L.A.)
    Reviewed by: Andy Klein
    70
    Were it not for the gravity of the setting, the movie could just as easily be a comedy -- with everybody play-acting and doors opening and shutting and the repercussions of lies multiplying geometrically -- as a drama.
  17. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Mark Peranson
    70
    An amiable black comedy.
  18. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Marrit Ingman
    67
    This a deeply humane and affecting movie, surprisingly gentle in spite of its black-comic tinge, and without the slightest hint of schmaltz.
  19. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: J. Hoberman
    60
    In its compassionate absurdism and underlying dark humor, the movie seeks to reestablish contact with the Czech new wave.
  20. Baltimore Sun
    Reviewed by: Michael Sragow
    50
    Divided We Fall has a lot going for it, but its Places in the Heart ending, sentimental and incongruous, helps ensure that it will not find a place in a demanding audience's heart or mind.
  21. New York Magazine (Vulture)
    Reviewed by: Peter Rainer
    50
    Divided We Fall is intended to be restorative, but its wish fulfillments, while charming, are also a bit too gaga for that.
  22. Mr. Showbiz
    Reviewed by: Michael Atkinson
    40
    Demonstrates that even if you live in a country intimately familiar with fascist occupation, you might still not have the least clue how to communicate that experience on film.
    All this critic's reviews
  23. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Ken Fox
    40
    None of this is funny, the surreal touches are ridiculous and the final fantasy sequence, in which the nameless ghosts of the murdered Wiener family smile on Josef, is simply nauseating.
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