War of the Buttons
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Metascore
40

Mixed or average reviews - based on 14 Critics What's this?

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  • Starring: , , , , ,
  • Summary: Set in occupied WWII France, War of the Buttons tells the tale of pre-teen rebel Lebrac and the "war" he leads between two rival kid gangs from neighboring villages. Once Lebrac falls for Violette, a young Jewish girl who is new in town and in danger of being exposed by the Nazis, the children are faced with putting their own conflicts aside to protect her and confront the very real war happening around them. (The Weinstein Company)… Expand

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 14
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 14
  3. Negative: 4 out of 14
  1. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Michael O'Sullivan
    Oct 19, 2012
    75
    Moving without being melodramatic, War of the Buttons is a tale of the worst -- and the best -- that people of all ages are capable of.
  2. NPR
    Reviewed by: Ella Taylor
    Oct 11, 2012
    60
    War of the Buttons deftly folds France's unsavory collusions into a rather more rousing tale of resistance. I don't doubt that some of these heroics happened. But the way they're framed conveniently takes the edge off saying sorry.
  3. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Sheri Linden
    Oct 12, 2012
    60
    Though it's handled with little subtlety, the way the atmosphere of suspicion in Vichy France filters down to the kids is a smart slant on the material.
  4. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Alison Willmore
    Oct 10, 2012
    42
    The use of a real war to give added emotional heft to this already potentially manipulative story make this film an act of callous calculation behind the beautiful shots of the French countryside.
  5. Arizona Republic
    Reviewed by: Barbara VanDenburgh
    Oct 23, 2012
    40
    For a movie that aspires to be heartwarming, it sure does inspire a lot of eye rolling.
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  6. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Rachel Saltz
    Oct 12, 2012
    40
    The slick filmmaking - the movie has a glossy, Hollywood-ready feel that sometimes tips into the cutesy - works against its themes.
  7. Slant Magazine
    Reviewed by: Calum Marsh
    Oct 10, 2012
    12
    By the time the drama is wrapped up with a bow and every child has learned a valuable life lesson, even the gap-toothed little tyke there solely for comic relief has begun to grate.

See all 14 Critic Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of 1
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 1
  3. Negative: 1 out of 1
  1. Kiva
    Jul 18, 2013
    1
    This film is really bad. It has no point of being a film and it is really fake. I wouldn't have watched that film if i knew was so bad. It had no plot and i really regret watching that bad film.Not funny not interesting just some garbage. french garbage… Expand

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