Metascore

Mixed or average reviews - based on 19 Critics What's this?

  • Starring: Clovis Cornillac, Gérard Jugnot, Kad Merad
  • Summary: The setting is Spring 1936 ; a working-class district in the north of Paris. In the center of town there is a small square, a few shops, lopsided buildings, cobbled streets and the peeling façade of the neighborhood music hall, the Chansonia. In this blue-collar neighborhood, the triumphant election of the Popular Front government is greeted with enthusiasm and hopes for a brighter tomorrow, yet stirs up all kinds of extremism. Among the new government's promises is a law guaranteeing paid holidays for workers. In early May, three residents of the Faubourg – Pigoil, Milou, and Jacky – still sulk over the closing of the Chansonia four months ago. Supported by the locals who live to the rhythm of Monsieur TSF's radio, the three friends decide to take hold of their destiny by producing the "hit" musical the Chansonia has always needed. (Sony Pictures) Expand
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 19
  2. Negative: 5 out of 19
  1. 75
    A gleaming hunk of French period schmaltz expertly rendered by director Christophe Barratier.
  2. Barratier directs with a jaunty artifice more typically seen on stage, but with the exception of Arnezeder, his cast turns theatricality to its advantage. They're offering us a sunny fantasy during a cloudy time, and seem well aware that we're unlikely to resist.
  3. Reviewed by: Ethan Gilsdorf
    38
    In short, the financial crisis and social upheaval of 1930s France never looked so appealing.

See all 19 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
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  2. Mixed: 0 out of
  3. Negative: 0 out of

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