Metascore

Universal acclaim - based on 10 Critics What's this?

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  • Summary: A full-fledged song-and-dance musical, Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench tells the story of two separated lovers, a young jazz trumpeter and an introverted woman, who slowly wind their way back into each other's lives through a series of romances and near-romances punctuated by song. (Variance Films)
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 10
  2. Negative: 0 out of 10
  1. Reviewed by: Lisa Schwarzbaum
    Dec 12, 2010
    100
    Damien Chazelle's extraordinary black-and-white retro dream of a feature debut.
  2. Reviewed by: Ian Buckwalter
    Dec 12, 2010
    91
    If John Cassavetes had directed a jazz musical by Jacques Demy, it might have looked something like this.
  3. Reviewed by: John Anderson
    Dec 12, 2010
    80
    A surprise, a delight and a whimsical experiment.
  4. Reviewed by: Keith Uhlich
    Dec 12, 2010
    60
    That the duo will work their way back to each other is never in doubt, although Chazelle doesn't succumb to easy sentiment. If anything, he moves too far in the other direction, aiming for a wizened ambiguity that doesn't entirely come off.

See all 10 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of 1
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 1
  3. Negative: 1 out of 1
  1. 1
    This film does not display the level of thought, planning, and meaningful execution that it rather painfully reaches for. Having seen films that create very successful raw and realistic depictions of human relationships, this film's blatant, aching attemps render as weak , forced and misguided. The whole film reads as a premature stride towards a 'genius' work, and in falling short the film seems wobbly and underthought. The 'artistic' elements are tacked onto to an unstable, meandering, and inconclusive plot. The seemingly unnecessary black-and-white filming, shots taken from behind blurry heads and laughably awkward song-and-dance numbers add to a cringe-factor that had the audience giggling anxiously rather than in enjoyment. Truly can't understand the high ratings, especially from sources I usually trust. Expand