|
New This Week
Critics & Publications
Archives: A-Z Index
Advanced Search
Upcoming Release Calendar
Awards & Bests By Year
All-Time High Scores
All-Time Low Scores
How Metascores Are Calculated
Discuss Film In Our Forums
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
|
Cup, The
Fine Line Features
FILM:
MPAA 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)
| GENRE(S): |
Comedy
|
| WRITTEN BY: |
Khyentse Norbu
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Khyentse Norbu
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
Video: September 26, 2001
Theatrical: January 28, 2000
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
94 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
Bhutan / Australia |
| LANGUAGE(S): |
Hindi / Tibetan (with English subtitles) |
Also known as "Phörpa"
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.
90
Washington Post
Desson Thomson
A chalice of unpretentious delight, flowing over with goodwill, a cheeky love for soccer and, uh, Buddhist humor.
90
Village Voice
J. Hoberman
The lovability quotient is as high as the altitude.
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.
80
The New York Times
Dana Stevens
A very funny movie, alive with a sense of absurdity and human foible.
75
San Francisco Chronicle
Peter Stack
The glimpses of religious life bumping into secular passion are touching and warmly comic.
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.
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.
75
New York Daily News
Jack Mathews
Could well end up on the coming Oscar ballot for best foreign language film.
70
Film.com
Elizabeth Weitzman
Wouldn't you rather learn about his culture from Norbu than from Richard Gere?
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.
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.
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."
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.
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.
50
Film.com
Ernest Hardy
Too slow-moving and too understated in much of its humor.
42
Entertainment Weekly
Owen Gleiberman
Little more than a plodding celebration of global television trumping everything in its midst.
 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.
Discuss this movie in our forums |
|
