Le gamin au vélo 2011

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: "The Kid With A Bike'' is, remarkably, about hope - about the connections people forge when the ones they've been given desert them. Read more

Glenn Kenny, MSN Movies: The simple act of its being seems enough to constitute a kind of perfection. Read more

Manohla Dargis, New York Times: A quietly rapturous film about love and redemption from Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne... Read more

David Fear, Time Out: The soulfulness is there, but the usual aesthetic rigor isn't, which makes all the difference in terms of their metaphysical modus operandi. Read more

David Edelstein, New York Magazine/Vulture: The film is not just in the tradition of Pinocchio and A.I.: It is a worthy successor. Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: "The Kid With a Bike" comes and goes in 87 minutes, but its beauty and intensity stay with you long afterward. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: Hunched over the handlebars, the boy's body seems to carve a hole in the wind. And we watch as this unhappy, rejected child makes some terrible choices, some of which make us want to look away. Read more

Mike D'Angelo, AV Club: I remain in awe of the Dardennes' willingness to commit wholeheartedly to dislikable protagonists - Cyril is a sullen, selfish, almost maniacal little runt, with a cuteness quotient of zero. Read more

Scott Tobias, AV Club: The Kid With A Bike feels like a companion piece to Rosetta, though it's far less severe and more open-hearted, even borderline sentimental. Read more

Ben Sachs, Chicago Reader: Makes a powerful statement about the plight of unwanted children. But it also incorporates elements of melodrama, film noir, and even the fairy tale that engage our empathy and confirm the Dardennes' great compassion. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: The Dardennes' latest is one of their best, a memorable cinematic portrait of troubled youth and soul-saving charity. Read more

Tom Charity, CNN.com: There is not a wasted shot in this stripped down, pared back fable. Yet, it accrues a deep and lasting power. You won't see many better this year. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: It's minor, but powerfully so. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: "The Kid With a Bike" vibrates with desperation, frustration and the simple unfairness of life, leavened with glimpses of hope. Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: No one charts the wilds of childhood more precisely than the Dardennes. Read more

David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter: With customary restraint, the Dardenne brothers have added yet another exquisite entry to their masterful body of work. Read more

Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: A wonderfully human and humane story about one of those lost-and-found children who tend to slip through society's not-so-safe safety nets. Read more

Mike D'Angelo, L.A. Weekly: It's nonetheless immensely satisfying - not least in its commitment to a child protagonist whose near-feral intensity and unthinking ingratitude make him the polar opposite of cute. Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne return to devastating form with this compelling riff on the Italian neo-realist classic "Bicycle Thieves." Read more

Stanley Kauffmann, The New Republic: The directing by the Dardenne brothers reflects their previous work: it wants to be unnoticed either for virtuosity or clumsiness, yet only virtuosos can attain this ideal. Read more

Rafer Guzman, Newsday: The Dardennes' quiet, naturalistic style strips this story of melodrama but not of emotion. Read more

Richard Brody, New Yorker: [Captures] the wild, primal emotions at the heart of society and show that well-ordered republics -- and families -- run on passions that are hard to accommodate or tolerate. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: As is usual in their films, the Dardennes remain both deeply interested and carefully objective. The photography and editing are unfussy and unhurried. There is no attempt to do anything but present these small fictions as simple fact. Read more

Jeannette Catsoulis, NPR: Within its tight 87 minutes, not a lot happens, unless you count the saving of a life. Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: It's miles away from big-budget, pop-culture entertainment, but you may be surprised by its impact. Read more

Kyle Smith, New York Post: A sly but finally banal update of the Italian neorealist classic "The Bicycle Thief." Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: The Kid With a Bike grabs at the heart. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: Young Thomas Doret fills the role with natural sincerity and focus, and not a second that seems contrived. Read more

Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com: An edge-of-your-seat emotional roller-coaster ride about ordinary people in a nondescript neighborhood, it's sometimes terrifying, often heart-rending and completely worth it. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: Without diminishing the boy's intensity or making him in any way ingratiating, the Dardennes take us into his mind, and we begin to appreciate not only his predicament but his resiliency. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: The film should be required viewing for everyone who has lost faith in the power of random acts of kindness. Read more

Calvin Wilson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: This is a film that's not always easy to watch, but just about impossible to forget. Read more

Geoff Andrew, Time Out: To anyone familiar with the Dardennes' relatively small but very substantial body of work, this might sound as if it's going over old ground - and maybe it is, but it's still producing fresh and extremely fruitful results. Read more

Peter Debruge, Variety: Belgium's Dardenne brothers make movies that remind you the most compelling stories are unfolding right outside your window, rather than in outer space, the distant past or wherever cinema usually takes us. Read more

Karina Longworth, Village Voice: The Kid With a Bike seems to unfold in a different world than that of previous Dardenne joints, one with a wider range of spiritual and practical possibilities. Read more

Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: Cyril is one of the most inspiringly resilient, self-aware young characters to arrive on-screen in recent memory... Read more