| 90 |
Washington Post
Stephen Hunter
Sumptuous, warm, continually amazing, it's a completely enjoyable couple of hours at the flickers.
|
| 88 |
New York Daily News
Jack Mathews
A movie-movie about the movies.
|
| 88 |
Miami Herald
Curtis Morgan
Rising above simple sentiment to explore class differences and the enduring clash between East and West with wit and wisdom.
|
| 83 |
Portland Oregonian
Barry Johnson
The re-creation of early 20th-century Beijing is dense and loving, and Hu shows just as much affection for the people who start to trickle into the shabby little cinema.
|
| 80 |
Washington Post
Michael O'Sullivan
It's a film about culture clash, the generation gap and the loss of tradition that inevitably accompanies the arrival of anything new.
|
| 75 |
Boston Globe
Jay Carr
Shadow Magic isn't interested in psychology or character study. It's a series of tableaux and on that level succeeds admirably.
|
| 75 |
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
William Arnold
Never quite builds the compulsive emotional power it needs to be an unforgettable personal drama.
|
| 75 |
Philadelphia Inquirer
Desmond Ryan
Transports us to a world that still had a capacity for awe, and that's the core of its charm.
|
| 75 |
Chicago Tribune
Loren King
Succeeds as a paean to movies and movie-watching.
|
| 70 |
Los Angeles Times
Kevin Thomas
Evokes the dawn of cinema in China with much charm, humor and subtlety.
|
| 70 |
Film.com
Robert Horton
Has a real sense of the wonder of the early years.
|
| 70 |
The New York Times
Dana Stevens
Gentle and easy to take.
|
| 68 |
Mr. Showbiz
Kevin Maynard
Plays like a Chinese "Cinema Paradiso," full of feeling without succumbing to sentimentality.
|
| 67 |
Austin Chronicle
Marjorie Baumgarten
The most delightful segments are those which observe new audiences experiencing the motion picture phenomenon.
|
| 63 |
USA Today
Mike Clark
The story doesn't exactly startle with surprises and has a tendency to hammer and rehammer its points.
|
| 63 |
New York Post
Jonathan Foreman
Often charming and sweet, and always prettily photographed.
|
| 60 |
LA Weekly
Paul Malcolm
Shadow Magic is rich with detail.
|
| 60 |
New Times (L.A.)
Andy Klein
Hu has crafted a charming and modest movie.
|
| 50 |
San Francisco Chronicle
Edward Guthmann
A pleasant but conventional film.
|
| 50 |
TV Guide
Ken Fox
Unfortunately, Hu and her army of co-writers saddle the story with a tired romantic subplot and fail to develop meaningful characters.
|
| 50 |
Village Voice
Amy Taubin
Properly picturesque but lacks subtlety and substance in blending Chinese and Western history, ideas, and cinematic conventions.
|
| 50 |
Chicago Sun-Times
Roger Ebert
The movie is more concerned with the story line (premiere-fire-threat-rescue) than with painting the time and place.
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