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L'Auberge Espagnole
Fox Searchlight Pictures


9.2

based on 31 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 21 votes
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FILM:

Russian Dolls

MPAA RATING: R for language and sexual content

Starring Romain Duris, Cécile De France, Judith Godrèche, Audrey Tautou, Kelly Reilly, Xavier De Guillebon, Kevin Bishop, and Federico D'Anna

The story of a young man who, through cosmopolitan adventures and comic tribulations, finds his own unexpected place in a mixed-up, multi-cultural modern world. (Fox Searchlight)

GENRE(S):	Romance
WRITTEN BY:	Cédric Klapisch
DIRECTED BY:	Cédric Klapisch
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: December 23, 2003 Video: December 23, 2003 Theatrical: May 16, 2003
RUNNING TIME:	128 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	France / Spain
LANGUAGE(S):	French / Spanish / English / Catalan / Danish (with English subtitles)

"L'Auberge Espagnole" is a French slang term that means a "free for all"; Audience Award for Best Picture, 2002 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival; Best Screenplay and Best Female Newcomer (De France), 2003 Lumiere Awards; Best Female Newcomer (De France), 2003 Cesar Awards

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...

Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan

In almost every way that I can think of, L'Auberge Espagnole is a perfect movie... It is a film that feels alive.

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

Blissfully funny, terrifically intelligent and tender when you least expect it to be.

Washington Post Ann Hornaday

It's an exhilarating, funny, very sweet movie.

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

L’Auberge Espagnole (The Spanish Hotel) is unexpectedly entertaining because it captures the point in young adulthood when life is unseriously serious, or maybe seriously unserious.

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

A love song to the new Europe (Klapisch's original title: Euro Pudding) and a snapshot of a polyglot gang on the cusp of kind-of-reckless youth and responsibility-burdened adulthood.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker

This community finds its balance with an easy effortlessness.

The New Yorker David Denby

Vignettish and offhand, but it’s extremely pleasant, and it suggests what can be done with lightweight equipment and a loose-limbed approach to the right subject. [19 May 2003, p. 94]

Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas

Exhilarating comedy...Its warm, embracing spirit is refreshing in these divisive times.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias

Not since Lukas Moodysson's "Together" has communal living been depicted with such warmth and feeling for the entire ensemble.

Dallas Observer Gregory Weinkauf

Writer-director-actor Cedric Klapisch simultaneously shows great moviemaking flair and reveals a very peculiar worldview.

USA Today Claudia Puig

It energetically captures the frenzied pace of contemporary existence, the complexities of life in a multicultural world, the rootless joys of living in a foreign city and the heady world of possibilities one envisions while in college.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

The movie is as light and frothy as a French comedy, which is what it is, a reminder that Cedric Klapisch also directed "When the Cat's Away" (1996).

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

Best of all, L'Auberge Espagnol uses Barcelona as a veritable character, a picturesque, vivacious place where, as one character puts it, ''No one eats before 10 p.m."

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

Does a beautiful job of capturing that mood -- the exuberance and wistfulness of one man's last year of youthful irresponsibility before joining the rat race.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

A lighthearted, good-natured motion picture that contains enough humor to leaven the tone and keep the drama from becoming too serious.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

The atmosphere of gentle communal chaos is authentic enough to become the movie's dramatic center.

Boston Globe Ty Burr

The movie also rather sweetly suggests that the apartment being shared is Europe itself. There's a reason this warm, stylish human comedy was a big hit all across the Continent: It conveys a new generation's conviction that borders no longer matter.

Chicago Tribune Allison Benedikt

Klapisch frequently uses voiceovers to express Xavier’s thoughts, and Duris expresses those thoughts beautifully, with a quirky open face, tuned perfectly to whatever his character is thinking.

LA Weekly Ella Taylor

The characters are well-observed and mercifully unrepresentative of their home countries. (Kevin Bishop is laugh-out-loud funny as a clueless British visitor who shows up to offend more than one national sensibility.)

Chicago Reader Jennifer Vanasco

The film is a pleasant ramble through an eventful year. Klapisch's special effects--cameras speeding down hallways, superimposed images--are both amusing and annoying.

The New York Times Dana Stevens

Presents an appealing and persuasive picture of European integration, in which national differences, which once sparked military and political conflict, are preserved because they make life sexier and more interesting.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey

A film whose limitations are the same as its appeal: It's a bauble. Running at barely more than 80 minutes, the film is both a travelogue and a commercial for swinging polyglot Europe.

TV Guide Ken Fox

The real stars of the film are Francois Emmanuelli's vibrant production design, Klapisch's flair with inventive optical effects and above all Barcelona itself, captured here in all its baroque brilliance.

The New Republic Stanley Kauffmann

The pace is fairly hectic, which it needs to be. (Mustn't linger on bubbles.) The performances are warm, especially the tender Judith Godrèche as the doctor's wife.

Portland Oregonian Kim Morgan

While breezy and fun, the film is also flimsy and sloppy in style and content.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

At times, writer-director Cedric Klapsich seems to be trying to copy the frestyle of "Amelie," but L'Auberge achieves only a fraction of its charm.

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

Beware of movies whose creators boast of the little effort involved. Little reward is what you're likely to get.

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

A dodgy, hit-or-miss affair that never quiet seems to gel: too many lumpy bits, and not enough crème.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

Movies can certainly be worse than bad sitcoms, and this is one of them.

Salon.com Charles Taylor

Klapisch wants his characters shiny bright, and winds up making them excruciatingly dull in the process. Watching L'Auberge Espagnole is like seeing the young Maoist revolutionaries of Jean-Luc Godard's 1967 "La Chinoise" body-snatched by the international touring company of "Up With People."

Village Voice Jessica Winter

Cédric Klapisch has been compared to Truffaut, but the new-waver's weakness for glib sentimentalism seems to have left the biggest impression on L'Auberge Espagnole.

The average user rating for this movie is 9.2 (out of 10) based on 21 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Amurabi M. gave it a7:
Without the annoying visual effects, the lead character in his depressive period (and loser attitude) and the use of bad accents in spanish (looks like the actors learn just the lines who performed, but they are not believable like students in Barcelona in an entire year of learning language), "L´Auberge Espagnole" could be a great french comedy without corny approaches. Klapisch´s film looks radiant, vibrant, funny, full of life, splendorous and optimistic. Someone coul be understand the propaganda in it, but the whole sense of the movie prevails over that. This film is not hilarious but has some joie de vivre that is more important and vital.

J. Ryan G. gave it a4:
A pro-European Union political essay that was adapted to the big screen. Energetic and constantly thinking, the film would work brilliantly if the main character weren't a complete loser, if certain romantic subplots weren't completely illegitimate, and if the ending's revelation wasn't completely uncalled for.

Jorge A. gave it a10:
Très comique! A mi me gusta porque usa las tres idiomas que más me gustan. I especially love the fact that there is much to be loved about different cultures and how Xavier learns many of life's greatest lessons from the most unlikely of places.

Terence P gave it a10:
This is a very enjoyable movie, like mentioned already, it reminded me of my time living in Europe. The characters are well written and the dialog is lively. I highly recommend this movie.

Junior N. gave it a 10:
This is better than a lotta things that they show us on the box office...this is an intelligent movie , funny, a must see!!!! C'est Plus intelligent que beaucoup de navet qui passe au box-office et meilleur!

L B gave it a 10:
Wonderfully upbeat, realistic, comical movie. A must see foreign flick.

Carlos C. gave it a 10:
A great film that depicts the crazy life of a study abroad experience. From the music to the beautiful sights of Barcelona, I rate this movie a ten!

L'Auberge Espagnole Fox Searchlight Pictures

L'Auberge Espagnole
Fox Searchlight Pictures