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Venus Beauty Institute
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 19 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 4 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info
Genre(s): Drama
Written by: Tonie Marshall
Directed by: Tonie Marshall
Release Date:
Theatrical: October 27, 2000
DVD: June 26, 2001
Running Time: 105 minutes, Color
Origin: France
Language(s): French (with English subtitles)
Summary
RATING: Not rated
Starring Nathalie Baye, Bulle Ogier, Samuel Le Bihan, and Jacques Bonnaffé
This film takes us into this world of beauty and self image and into the lives of four strong, smart women who make their living practicing beauty at a Parisian spa. (Lot 47 Films)
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database
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...
Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan
There is a sophistication about affairs of the heart, about the wisdom and the risks of romantic involvement that is more than quintessentially French. It's irresistible as well.
Read Full Review >Baltimore Sun Athima Chansanchai
Love, however implausible, is simply beautiful in Venus.
Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey
A pink-collar "Sex and the City" made urgent by the performance of Nathalie Baye.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker
At its best when it remains with the women, and Marshall draws marvelous performances from all.
Read Full Review >Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt
Baye gives a stunning performance in the central role, backed by a first-rate supporting cast.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Jay Carr
It's all glossy urban fairy-tale stuff, laid on with style to spare, given added resonance by a mini-pantheon of French movie goddesses.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Maitland McDonagh
A beautifully acted slice of intersecting lives defined and driven by the business of beauty.
Read Full Review >Film.com Ernest Hardy
At its core is a feminine realm (the beauty parlor) through which modern issues of alienation and casual-sex-as-a-drug are coupled with timeless questions about the natures of love and desire.
Read Full Review >Salon.com Charles Taylor
Lets you indulge your taste for soapy heartache without leaving you feeling that you have to wash the bubbles out of your mouth.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Amy Taubin
Thanks to some brilliant casting, Venus Beauty Institute provokes ideas about women, movies, sexuality, and age that extend beyond its frothy fiction.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Ernest Hardy
Director Tonie Marshall has taken a very simple story and laced it with potent details that make the film a rich map of her lead character's inner life.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
Clever and smooth, yet, like Angèle herself (or Nathalie Baye), the film is almost too placid for its own good.
Read Full Review >New York Post Jonathan Foreman
Slight but entertaining and occasionally touching.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Jami Bernard
It's hard not to feel empowered by Nathalie Baye.
Read Full Review >Mr. Showbiz Michael Atkinson
Mature and adroitly performed but ultimately underachieving.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum
A pretty good chronicle of a certain phase of French working-class life.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian Kim Morgan
Marshall does such a good job re-creating the otherworldly energy of a temple of youth that the rest of the picture feels strained and sometimes trite. Nevertheless, parts can be absorbing, reflective and touching.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Dana Stevens
Has occasional moments of heat, but not much warmth. And while it is pretty enough to look at, real beauty eludes it.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Kimberley Jones
Warmed my heart about as much as the cold cream Angèle slathers all over her wrinkling clients.
What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 4.2 (out of 10) based on 4 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
John gave it a 4:
Was boring...
