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

sort by name

sort by score

xx Beer for My Horses
xx Christmas on Mars: A Fantastical Film Freakout Featuring the Flaming Lips
62 Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, The
48 Death Defying Acts
33 Elite Squad
80 Encounters at the End of the World
20 Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed
86 Flight of the Red Balloon, The
36 Fly Me to the Moon
42 Fred Claus
54 Get Smart
73 Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson
49 Hancock
25 Hell Ride
78 Hellboy II: The Golden Army
44 Henry Poole is Here
61 Incredible Hulk, The
57 Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D
xx Kiss the Bride
63 Kit Kittredge: An American Girl
73 Kung Fu Panda
xx Lower Learning
63 Man Named Pearl, A
43 Meet Dave
52 Milarepa
62 Mister Foe
53 Mister Lonely
61 On the Rumba River
32 Perfect Holiday, The
63 Planet B-Boy
72 Priceless
63 Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, The
36 Space Chimps
35 Star Wars: The Clone Wars
51 Step Brothers
81 Still Life
57 Stone Angel, The
47 Strangers, The
55 Sukiyaki Western Django
63 This Christmas
71 To the Limit
72 Transsiberian
71 Tropic Thunder
93 WALL-E
64 Wanted
xx Whaledreamers
54 What We Do Is Secret
66 When Did You Last See Your Father?
47 X-Files: I Want to Believe, The
45 Zombie Strippers

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

Delicatessen
Miramax Films


6.6

based on 17 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 3 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

FILM:

MPAA RATING: R

Starring Pascal Benezech, Dominique Pinon, Marie-Laure Dougnac, Jean-Claude Dreyfus, and Karin Viard

In a post-apocalyptic society where meat is scarce, cannibalism is no longer unsavory. And when a young ex-clown takes a job in a dilapidated deli, he's completely unaware that the butcher plans to serve him to the building's bizarre tenants. But when the butcher's nearsighted daughter falls for the clown, she'll go to absurd lengths to foil her father's plan. (Miramax)

GENRE(S):	Comedy \| Drama \| Romance \| Sci-fi
WRITTEN BY:	Gilles Adrien Marc Caro Jean-Pierre Jeunet
DIRECTED BY:	Marc Caro Jean-Pierre Jeunet
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: January 29, 2003 Theatrical: April 3, 1992
RUNNING TIME:	99 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

Won Césars for Editing, First Work, Production Design and Writing. César nominations for Cinematography, Costume Design, Music, Sound, Supporting Actor (Jean-Claude Dreyfus) & Promising Actress (Marie-Laure Dougnac).

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

Salon.com Jenn Shreve

I didn't need to understand every word to see what a beautiful film this was - each camera shot a carefully composed masterpiece that immerses the viewer in a realm of luxuriant imagination.

100

TV Guide Staff (Not Credited)

Delicatessen is an ingeniously funny film with a surprisingly sweet romance at its center.

Variety Staff (Not Credited)

Beautifully textured, cleverly scripted and eerily shot (often with a wideangle lens making characters look even weirder), Delicatessan is a zany little film that's a startling and clever debut for co-helmers Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro.

The Hollywood Reporter Duane Byrge

The slapstick is classic-level stuff, the kind of domino-effect precision that is lost in most of today's clumsy farces.

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

Set in some sort of post-apocalyptic Parisian deli o' the damned, this lunatic's take on the future of man is so delightfully warped that it's impossible to shake it out of your head and go get a decent night's sleep.

Boston Globe Jay Carr

What keeps the film going, and helps it keep its comic tone, is the constant threat of cataclysm - and the deadpan Buster Keaton charm of the ever-responsive Pinon as he combats the giant Rube Goldberg meat-grinder that the house, in effect, is. [17 Apr 1992]

Chicago Tribune Clifford Terry

Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro's "Delicatessen" is an exuberantly wacky, perversely droll black comedy with an ample dose of gentle whimsy-"Eating Raoul" out of "Mr. Hulot's Holiday." [17 Apr 1992]

Empire Jack Yeovil

This is still a delightfully original picture, poised perfectly between farce and horror.

The New York Times Janet Maslin

Among the things that deserve mention in this lightweight but sometimes subversively stylish farce are its ingenious credit sequence, its lively editing by Herve Schneid, its use of code names like Artichoke Heart and Cordon Bleu in the guerrilla war that rages underground and its reference to a couple of odd inventions.

Los Angeles Times Michael Wilmington

The film itself is playful, weird, unpredictable and a bit tasteless. [10 Apr 1992]

Village Voice J. Hoberman

Delicatessen may be junk food, but it's served with the discretion of nouvelle cuisine. [07 Apr 1992]

USA Today Mike Clark

co-directors Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro know their craft; of the films here, only Othello has a more trenchant visual style. [30 Apr 1992]

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

A smirky cleverness infects much of the picture, yet some scenes are so skillfully created that it's hard not to admire them, and Dominique Pinon's sensitive performance as a retired circus man gives the movie a soul. [10 Apr 1992]

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Jay Scott

Delicatessen is a carniverous sausage - lots of fat, a few meaty bits. [10 Apr 1992]

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

Delicatessen seems overstuffed at times, unable to digest its own surfeit of jokes, tricks, and surprises.

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

There are no characters to care about or remember afterward - just a lot of flashy technique involving decor, some glib allegorical flourishes, and the obligatory studied film-school weirdness.

Washington Post Rita Kempley

A punky, futuristic effort by Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro, it is a tasteless variation on "Sweeney Todd" set geographically near the border of Terry Gilliam's "Brazil."

The average user rating for this movie is 6.6 (out of 10) based on 3 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Cal gave it a10:
Brilliant film – it's got all the delicate charm that Jeunet injects into his work mixed with a macabre undercurrent that keeps it fresh. A well-crafted black comedy, and a modern classic in my view; but it's definitely not for everyone.

Bill S. gave it a9:
A French circus gone bonkers. Surreal love story.

Jen A. gave it a1:
One of the worst movies I have EVER seen - from stale acting, far-fetched plot lines and poor dialogue, it's a disaster from start to end. I don't know how I reached the end of the movie, possibly it was from sheer curiosity to see if the whole thing could really be that bad. But, on a different note, it perhaps may be considered a good watch for entertainment value?

Discuss this movie in our forums

Return to top of page

Delicatessen Miramax Films

Delicatessen
Miramax Films