Color of Paradise, The

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

While never slow, the film feels quiet and spacious, like a prayer.

Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey

The film's climax involves a father and son reunion that is tense, tragic and, finally, as transcendent as Mohammad himself.

Boston Globe Jay Carr

The story is spun forth ravishingly, tenderly, and urgently, with a captivating mix of beauty, spare sophistication, and profound humanity.

San Francisco Chronicle Bob Graham

This is a transcendent film, deeply committed and beautifully wrought. It will make anyone who sees it look at the world with new eyes.

Mr. Showbiz F. X. Feeney

It's an exhilarating display of filmic artistry.

Time Richard Corliss

This miniature epic is a film that, like its young hero, will enrich those who peer into its poignant heart.

Newsweek Ann-Rebecca Laschever

A beautifully told story of a child's innocence and faith, filmed with exquisite detail and stunning cinematography

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

A family film that shames the facile commercialism of a product like "Pokemon" and its value system based on power and greed.It is made with delicacy and beauty.

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

Another perfect little gem from Iran in which the simplest story unleashes a torrent of emotion.

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

The simplicity and idealism of The Color of Paradise are part of what makes it so attractive to near-jaded palates here. There are no evil characters in the film.

Dallas Observer Jean Oppenheimer

A beautiful film from Iran explores beauty both physical and spiritual.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

A heartbreaker, plain and simple.

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

Reputed to be sentimental crowd pleaser, for better and for worse.

Village Voice Michael Atkinson

Like a Hollywood dolt, Majidi strives to overwhelm us with emphasis, but it's the reality he was savvy to load his movie with that's touching.

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

Less a film than a lyrical, naturalistic tone poem.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker

It's so beautiful and moving and simple that I'm willing to forgive Majidi his contrivances.

Portland Oregonian Diana Abu-Jaber

Offers a charming reinterpretation of what it means to look for happiness and all the unexpected places that it may be found.

New York Post Jonathan Foreman

Doesn't have the emotional heft of his "Children of Paradise," but it's still moving.

USA Today Staff [Not Credited]

Seductively pastoral but also a bit slight, the movie saves its best scene for the very end.

Film.com Henry Cabot Beck

Westerners may find the religious aspects wearying and a little fantastic. The Color of Paradise is both parable and fable, a retelling of Isaac and Abraham.

Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas

As worthy and moving as The Color of Paradise is, it is not entirely free of the manipulative, the arbitrary and the downright punitive.

The New York Times Dana Stevens

Leans a bit too much toward the lachrymose and has a wrong-note final image.

TV Guide Ken Fox

The surprisingly tragic climax may make it rough going for kids too young to grasp the film's comforting message.

LA Weekly Hazel-Dawn Dumpert

The performances are revelatory.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

Although it has a good heart and a warm spirit, this prettily filmed drama is more sentimental and manipulative than earlier Iranian films on youth-related subjects.