Advanced Search >
Help Me Search

DVD

Upcoming Release Calendar
Film Awards & Top 10s By Year
All-Time High Scores
All-Time Low Scores

Recent DVD/Video Releases

sort by namesort by score

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

Cup, The

EMAILPRINTFine Line Features

Cup, The reviews
70
7.0 User Score:

Generally favorable reviews

Based on 23 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 1 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >

Movie Info

Genre(s): Comedy

Written by: Khyentse Norbu

Directed by: Khyentse Norbu

Release Date:
Theatrical: January 28, 2000

Running Time: 94 minutes, Color

Origin: Bhutan / Australia

Summary

RATING: G for General Audiences

Starring Jamyang Lodro, Orgyen Tobgyal, and Neten Chokling

World Cup fever has reached the Indian Himalayas in this comedy about the lighter side of life in a Tibetan Buddhist monastery. This touching story tackles the issues of winning and losing, life in exile and the impact of the modern world on a highly traditional lifestyle. (Palm Pictures)

What The Critics Said

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

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

The first feature-length movie from Bhutan tells its lighthearted story through smart performances, appealing images, and unfailing good humor.

Read Full Review >
90

Washington Post Desson Thomson

A chalice of unpretentious delight, flowing over with goodwill, a cheeky love for soccer and, uh, Buddhist humor.

Read Full Review >
90

Village Voice J. Hoberman

The lovability quotient is as high as the altitude.

Read Full Review >
88

New York Post Hannah Brown

So joyous it can actually shake viewers out of a bad mood.

80

Dallas Observer Andy Klein

This sweet little movie is a mild comedy, a much calmer cousin to "Sister Act," with men in robes rather than women in habits.

Read Full Review >
80

The New York Times Dana Stevens

A very funny movie, alive with a sense of absurdity and human foible.

Read Full Review >
75

San Francisco Chronicle Peter Stack

The glimpses of religious life bumping into secular passion are touching and warmly comic.

Read Full Review >
75

Baltimore Sun Ann Hornaday

It's a clear-eyed, unsentimental portrait and indelible for that very reason.

75

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

A delightful demonstration of how spirituality can coexist quite happily with an intense desire for France to defeat Brazil.

Read Full Review >
75

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

Past the foreign mysticism and eccentricity of Tibetan Buddhism to portray its characters as unmistakably, identifiably human.

75

Boston Globe Jay Carr

A small film and, ultimately, a satisfying one.

Read Full Review >
75

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

Could well end up on the coming Oscar ballot for best foreign language film.

Read Full Review >
70

Film.com Elizabeth Weitzman

Wouldn't you rather learn about his culture from Norbu than from Richard Gere?

Read Full Review >
70

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

Charming, slyly comic and far from conventionally religious.

70

TV Guide Ken Fox

The tragedy of modern Tibet haunts this otherwise lighthearted tale of life inside a Buddhist monastery-in-exile.

Read Full Review >
67

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

While never dull, The Cup is a leisurely, quiet film, rife with staid, sometimes ponderous moments reflecting the seriousness of their situation in exile.

Read Full Review >
63

Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey

An improbably funny and transcendent account of soccer-mad Tibetan monks in exile at a Bhutan monastery.

60

LA Weekly Ella Taylor

Though The Cup is lovely to look at, it has none of the ceremonial rigor mortis of Scorsese's "Kundun."

Read Full Review >
60

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

Norbu tries too hard to please and charm, but his film at least carries the advantages of unactorly faces and a premise based on actual events that dramatizes the issue of religious vocation in a secular world.

Read Full Review >
58

Mr. Showbiz Michael Atkinson

A cute, clichéd, coming-of-age comedy.

50

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Paula Nechak

Never offers much enlightenment through its message.

Read Full Review >
50

Film.com Ernest Hardy

Too slow-moving and too understated in much of its humor.

Read Full Review >
42

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

Little more than a plodding celebration of global television trumping everything in its midst.

Read Full Review >

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 7.0 (out of 10) based on 1 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Jacques R. gave it a 7:
A must-see for anyone who has a passion for watching football (soccer to you Yanks)(and a should-see for everyone else)!

Popular on CBS sites: SEC Football | NFL | Video Game Cheats | iPhone | Video Game Reviews | Notebooks | Antivirus Software

About CBS Interactive | Jobs | Advertise

© 2009 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy (UPDATED) | Terms of Use