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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
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Barbarian Invasions, The
Miramax Films
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FILM:
MPAA RATING: R for language, sexual dialogue and drug content
Starring
Rémy Girard,
Stéphane Rousseau,
Dorothée Berryman,
Louise Portal,
Dominique Michel,
Yves Jacques,
Pierre Curzi,
and
Marie-Josée Croze
Director Denys Arcand revisits the situations and relationships that informed his international breakthrough "The Decline of the American Empire." Set 17 years after Decline, this film, like its predecessor, examines the varying politics -- economic, personal and sexual -- at play among a group of friends, lovers and ex-spouses. (Miramax)
| GENRE(S): |
Comedy
|
Drama
|
Foreign
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| WRITTEN BY: |
Denys Arcand
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| DIRECTED BY: |
Denys Arcand
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: July 13, 2004
Theatrical: November 21, 2003
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
95 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
Canada / France |
| LANGUAGE(S): |
French (with English subtitles) |
Original title "Les Invasions Barbares"; Best Foreign Language Film, 76th Annual Academy Awards; Best Actress (Croze) and Best Screenplay, 2003 Cannes Film Festival; Best Canadian Feature Film, 2003 Toronto International Film Festival
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
100
Chicago Tribune
Michael Wilmington
A brilliant entertainment, full of bemused skepticism and reckless, prodigal love -- for these people and their vanishing era and lives.
100
Chicago Sun-Times
Roger Ebert
Dying is not this cheerful, but we need to think it is. The Barbarian Invasions is a movie about a man who dies about as pleasantly as it's possible to imagine; the audience sheds happy tears.
90
Chicago Reader
Ted Shen
Arcand's fondness for the good old 60s can be cloying, but despite an uneven cast, he finds a tonal balance between sentimental and cynical that keeps the conversations real and heart wrenching.
88
Philadelphia Inquirer
Carrie Rickey
Where Denys Arcand's delightful 1986 comedy "The Decline of the American Empire" celebrated the good life, his profoundly funny sequel The Barbarian Invasions heartily toasts the good death.
88
Rolling Stone
Peter Travers
It's a feast of smart, sexy, glorious talk. The Oscar for best foreign film belongs right here.
88
ReelViews
James Berardinelli
Although the specter of death hovers over the entire film, it is neither a grim nor a depressing experience. Arcand has injected a great deal of wit into the movie, and it meshes perfectly with the anticipated pathos.
83
Portland Oregonian
Shawn Levy
The combination of ideas and wit, lively characterizations, believable human dilemmas and a climax that both melts and braces you makes for a fine blend. A movie about ideas may sound like a drag, but this one packages them in well-earned emotions.
80
Washington Post
Desson Thomson
Admirable in its refusal to be politically correct.
80
Washington Post
Desson Thomson
Admirable in its refusal to be politically correct.
80
Washington Post
Ann Hornaday
A movie that, in the story of one man dying, shows us all how to live.
80
Slate
David Edelstein
A pungently funny and heartfelt piece of wish fulfillment.
80
Variety
Lisa Nesselson
A full-bodied, funny and gloriously unpretentious ode to family, friendship and the meaning of life, The Barbarian Invasions is solidly entertaining, sharply written and genuinely touching.
80
The New Yorker
David Denby
The Barbarian Invasions might be called an idyll of death. Without excessive sentiment (but without slighting sentiment, either). [24 November 2003, p. 113]
80
LA Weekly
Ella Taylor
A reunion movie, and while it's often very funny, it has none of the self-satisfied piety or strenuous jokiness of "The Big Chill." Its mood shifts between defiant exuberance and wistful contemplation, but it's never mawkish.
80
Los Angeles Times
Kenneth Turan
Bristling but finally surprisingly moving film.
80
The New York Times
Dana Stevens
The rapprochement between Rémy and Sébastien is beautiful to watch, and all of the characters in The Barbarian Invasions are played with a lusty warmth that makes them lovable even when they are being tiresome.
80
Wall Street Journal
Joe Morgenstern
The film grows on you too, a later-stage version of "The Big Chill" that starts schematically and ends as a stirring celebration.
78
Austin Chronicle
Marjorie Baumgarten
Sharp-witted delight.
75
Boston Globe
Ty Burr
A honey, but your response to it may depend on where you fall on life's big curve.
75
San Francisco Chronicle
Mick LaSalle
The treatment of the subject isn't maudlin, thanks to a witty script and an enormously likable lead character, Remy (Remy Girard), who remains bullheaded and lusty to the finish.
75
USA Today
Staff [Not Credited]
Despite a slight tendency to be overly pleased with itself, this is a smart piece of work that got Arcand's screenplay an award at Cannes.
75
New York Daily News
Jami Bernard
A deeply felt celebration of the life force, as embodied in Girard's fierce performance as a man who may not have done all he could, but had an enviably great time on the way.
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Liam Lacey
As a film about intellectuals, The Barbarian Invasions can sometimes seem maddeningly scattered and contradictory.
70
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Noel Murray
The Barbarian Invasions' flaws are mainly glaring because the movie is occasionally so winning.
70
Dallas Observer
Bill Gallo
Arcand loyalists are bound to miss Rémy, but at least he goes out in style. Even the antagonists will have to admit that.
67
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Paula Nechak
Like a family visit during the holidays. Tensions run high, not everyone is likable but being there's an uneasy comfort because everything is so familiar.
67
Entertainment Weekly
Owen Gleiberman
I kept wondering how Arcand could have chosen as his generational representative a man not just flawed in his hedonism but one so fundamentally lacking in tenderness for others.
63
Premiere
Maia Abraham
Girard gives feisty life to the battle-weary professor, but Rousseau just follows the drill--he is glass-eyed to the point of distraction. And for all its intellectual maneuvering, the film never regains the simple power of its opening salvo.
60
Empire
Patrick Peters
The structure similarly misses the flashbacking subtlety of the original. Even the characterisation lacks depth.
60
TV Guide
Ken Fox
If the banter lacks the often brilliant and erudite -- if showy -- sparkle of its predecessor, the acting is still first-rate, and the film will be best enjoyed by fans eager to spend another 90 minutes with a group of old friends.
50
Christian Science Monitor
David Sterritt
A bit too neat and calculated to make the emotions ring really true.
40
Salon.com
Stephanie Zacharek
Which would all be well and good, if only Arcand's approach weren't so deliberate and stupefyingly superior.
40
Time
Richard Corliss
Arcand has a gift for witty dialogue but a weakness for force-feeding his story with sentiment. References to ancient holocausts and to 9/11 simply expose the intent of a director who will do anything to touch his audience -- with a sweet gesture or a cattle prod. And in a comedy of manners, that behavior is very impolite.
38
New York Post
V.A. Musetto
Schmaltzy and contrived.
20
Village Voice
Michael Atkinson
Shear away the film's pretensions, and it's a soap opera of assholes.
 The average user rating for this movie is 7.5 (out of 10) based on 23 User Votes
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