Partir 2009

Tom Long, Detroit News: This is one of those films that depends entirely on its star, and Thomas mixes sexuality, giddy flirtatiousness, stoic determination and agony in just the right amounts, without ever straining. Read more

Manohla Dargis, New York Times: The surrender to Eros fails to translate despite the boudoir choreography. Read more

Keith Uhlich, Time Out: A tawdry potboiler slathered riotously in portent, complete with a lamebrained detour into vengeance that only Claude Chabrol would be able to pull off. Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: For a triangular tale with a familiar premise, this compact feature, which was written by the director with Gaelle Mace, proves to be uncommonly interesting. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: While "Leaving" is a tragedy, it's also a celebration: of the way a fine actor can tell us a story, barely needing words. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: The only reason to see "Leaving'' - and it's not a bad reason at all - is for the sight of Kristin Scott Thomas in a rare happy mood. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: Thomas' face, tremulous with desire one second, steely with anger the next, holds the screen every second. But the actress deserves richer material. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: If Leaving is a romantic parable, it is a dark and depressing one, emphasizing not the sensuality of attraction but rather the obsessive side of romantic behavior. This is mad love for sure, and that is not usually a pretty picture. Read more

V.A. Musetto, New York Post: The plot isn't a new one (remember Lady Chatterley?), but Corsini gives it a few twists and turns that keep matters fresh and suspenseful. Read more

Rex Reed, New York Observer: Kristin Scott Thomas breathes new life into a woman who was invented by Flaubert and copied by Francoise Sagan. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: Corsini has her surprises. And she has Scott Thomas, and that's really all she needs. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: Scott Thomas walks around in jeans and a T-shirt and has that Isabelle Huppert lifelong little girl look. She's good. Pity about the movie. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: There have been many adultery movies over the years, but Leaving has some aspects that make it different and interesting. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: Kristin Scott Thomas is not only one of the best English actresses of her generation, she's one of France's best, too. Read more

Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: As Suzanne's stair-stepping recklessness leads ever downward, from secret rendezvous to public humiliations to thievery and worse, "Leaving" trades sympathy for surprise. Read more

Dave Calhoun, Time Out: The ending suggests a lack of ideas, but the journey is surprising enough for that not to matter. Read more

Time Out: Read more

Jordan Mintzer, Variety: Tightly wound and crafted, with robust performances by Kristin Scott Thomas and recurrent Spanish Don Juan Sergi Lopez, the pic offers a rough, no-frills take on a story as old as France itself. Read more

Melissa Anderson, Village Voice: [Kristin Scott Thomas] does what she can to best serve her scripts, even when they're hopelessly beneath her. Read more

Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post: If "Leaving" is a story of a broken marriage, what, exactly, went wrong? Read more