Central Station

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen

Easily among the top 10 films made last year.

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

Normally the sound in movie theaters is of popcorn crunching. But the sound at theaters where Central Station is showing is of hearts breaking.

San Francisco Chronicle Edward Guthmann

Fernanda Montenegro gives a landmark performance.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

A richly tender and moving experience.

Time Richard Schickel

[Salles]'s imagery, like his storytelling, is clear, often unaffectedly lovely, and quietly, powerfully haunting.

New Times (L.A.) Jean Oppenheimer

But in a calculated move that pays off handsomely, the picture's remarkable power is reserved for the end, when the intertwining themes coalesce in an extraordinarily satisfying and stirring way.

Washington Post Rita Kempley

Profoundly affecting.

Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas

For Fernanda Montenegro, who bears more than a passing resemblance to Italy's late Giulietta Masina (Federico Fellini's wife and frequent star) in appearance and talent, "Central Station" is a personal triumph and a rich cinematic experience.

The New Yorker David Denby

An intimate epic.

San Francisco Examiner G. Allen Johnson

Salles' solid narrative is only deceptively simple; there is a lot of dimension and depth to this gentle, sometimes painful portrait of two wanderers.

TV Guide Ken Fox

Filled with moments of real poignancy and gentle epiphanies, the film is also marked by strong Christian undercurrents, but, like everything else in Salles's film, they're handled with extraordinary delicacy and never feel exclusionary.

Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan

A touching and unusual road movie-cum-buddy film.

Variety Todd McCarthy

Montenegro carries the film su-perbly with her portrait of gritty strength being worn down to a state of tattered vulnerability, while newcomer de Oliveira, a shoeshine boy who won the role over 1,500 other aspirants, is engagingly natural and happily doesn't beg for viewer sympathy.

The New York Times Elvis Mitchell

There's plenty of room for sentimentality here, but the wonder of Salles' film is all in the telling.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Joshua Klein

While the cinematography is gorgeous and the script extremely sharp, Central Station owes much of its strength to its two mismatched leads.

Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten

The story is much less about its resolution than the experience along the way. At its best, Central Station is a movie of small textures and fleeting moments, the intangibles that pass between people.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

A touching, well-made motion picture whose only real flaw lies in the overfamiliar storyline.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

The performances are engaging and the views of rural Brazil are captivating, making the film a solid audience-pleaser even though its story often seems familiar and sentimental.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

The movie's success rests largely on the shoulders of Fernanda Montenegro, an actress who successfully defeats any temptation to allow sentimentality to wreck her relationship with the child.

New York Magazine Peter Rainer

In this otherwise rather schematic swatch of social catharsis, Brazil's Fernanda Montenegro gives the best performance by an actress I've seen all year.

Film Threat Ron Wells

I wasn't in the mood for this film, but it got to me anyway.

Village Voice Gary Dauphin

A mildly saccharine but kind-hearted movie.

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

This 1998 film held my interest for two hours, even taking on an epic feel when it turns into a road movie. It's not bad by any means, but it also happens to resemble a lot of other movies.

Film.com Peter Brunette

It's blatantly manipulative pairing of an adorable young boy and a selfish, honesty-challenged older woman [is] so calculating that I could never get emotionally involved.