Le nom des gens 2010

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: There's a taste of "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," "Something Wild" "Forces of Nature" and even "Bringing Up Baby," perhaps the best of the wild child-seduces-straight arrow romances. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: A bit jarring while still totally disarming, The Names of Love stirs the pot in more ways than one. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: Instead of asking "What's in a name?,'' this slyly delightful piece of Gallic fluff wonders at all the ways that names - the labels we give to one another - bring us into the world and keep us apart from it. Read more

Stephen Holden, New York Times: A movie that has the tone and structure of early-to-middle Woody Allen, but infused with a dose of Gallic identity politics. Read more

David Fear, Time Out: The real query is how much insufferable Gallic tweeness you can stand before simply shouting "no, merci!" Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: Mr. Leclerc's movie, in French with good English subtitles, often plays like romantic comedy, but it's really a sophisticated burlesque about the significance of surnames, plus some quintessentially French obsessions... Read more

Keith Phipps, AV Club: In spite of the film's serious subtext, it's unmistakably a romantic comedy, and Leclerc keeps a light touch throughout. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: It's always entertaining, and it boasts a terrific performance from Sara Forestier. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: The movie never really decides what it's about, and its odd-couple romance is stale and unpersuasive. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: I'm not saying that seriousness and nudity cannot coexist, even in France, but the mix of gravitas and friskiness here is annoyingly superficial. The film's tone is "crowd-pleasing," but which crowd exactly is being pleased? Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: For those who wish to decode The Names of Love, there's a sharp commentary on French prejudices, character types, history, and culture embedded in Michel Leclerc's droll autobiographical French comedy. But the surface story works just fine too. Read more

Peter Brunette, Hollywood Reporter: [A] delightful, sexy, and often audacious crowd-pleaser. Read more

Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times: So many actresses are asked to be adorable even in their characters' most exasperating moments, but few pull it off as well as Forestier. Read more

Anthony Lane, New Yorker: Leclerc pays such lavish homage, in the construction of his film, to golden-age Allen; the moments at which a bewildered Arthur consults his teen-age self could have come straight out of "Annie Hall." Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: A film that isn't sure if it's a political statement on Muslim/Jewish relations or an "Annie Hall" homage. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: From madcap to moronic. Read more

V.A. Musetto, New York Post: Strained and mildly amusing. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: Playfully provocative and boasting a star-making turn from Sara Forestier, The Names of Love addresses the volatile issue of European assimilation and multiculturalism, but in a tone and tenor full of screwball whimsy. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: What I admired was the story of these characters themselves. What an odd couple. Read more

Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com: In its joyful and high-spirited fashion "The Names of Love" suggests that we must learn from the past but live for the future, and that definitely doesn't just apply to French people. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: Forestier's performance is a tour de force of comic acting, maintaining astonishing alertness and energy from shot to shot and scene to scene. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: It's all put across with such energy and good spirits that it feels brand new. If you don't enjoy this one, you don't like fun. Read more

Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: The elements of sex, race and religion spin in separate orbits, but the two likable leads hold them together as the film grows surprisingly serious. Read more

Rick Groen, Globe and Mail: The film is sometimes funny and occasionally smart yet never quite what it wants to be -- funny and smart at the same time. Read more

Greg Quill, Toronto Star: Well worth the effort spent trying to read the white subtitles too often superimposed over a white background. Read more

Jordan Mintzer, Variety: Too giddy about its own nonconformism to keep the laughs going from start to finish. Read more

Melissa Anderson, Village Voice: The pathetic attempts at outre, taboo-busting humor as sociopolitical commentary can't disguise what this film really is: a mawkish, MOR comedy of manners that even its straw man Nicolas Sarkozy would find suitable for date night. Read more

Mark Jenkins, Washington Post: It's a playfully sexy farce that plays like a Gallic "Annie Hall" - if Annie had been as blithe about nudity as Baya is. Read more