The Lunchbox 2013

Kyle Smith, New York Post: A clever setup that harkens back to "You've Got Mail" and "The Shop Around the Corner" doesn't quite pay off in India's warm-hearted comedy-drama "The Lunchbox." Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: For the acting alone, "The Lunchbox" is a sumptuous treat. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: A pleasure, from the fascinating intricacies of Mumbai-style interlocking lunch containers to the quietly masterful performance of Khan. Read more

Ben Kenigsberg, AV Club: The Lunchbox ultimately registers as a too-hesitant portrayal of hesitancy, and its pleasures are largely incidental. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: A humanist fable from India, the film is actually a romance in the classic tradition, a "Brief Encounter" transposed to the rhythms and flavors of modern-day Mumbai. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: As in an old Nora Ephron comedy, each of the prospective lovers is supplied with an irritating comic foil. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: Batra deftly finesses the will-they-or-won't-they potholes in the plot. If he never quite moves the story into Chekhovian terrain, he does at least manage to make it into something more than an Indian O. Henry knockoff. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: "The Lunchbox" doesn't offer easy solutions, but it is filled with keen observations. All meals should be this satisfying. Read more

William Goss, Film.com: This long-distance love story is comfort food in any language, perfectly agreeable and unlikely to surprise. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: This warm and affectionate human comedy from India is charming in a delicate and unforced way. Read more

John Anderson, Newsday: Warm, and warmly predictable. Read more

Richard Brody, New Yorker: This gentle romantic drama, by the Indian director Ritesh Batra, packs twenty minutes of action into its hour-and-three-quarters running time. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: It's a slight idea for a film, but director Ritesh Batra (who also cowrote) nicely expands it ... Read more

Bob Mondello, NPR: The Lunchbox is a first feature for director Ritesh Batra, but it nicely captures the almost overwhelming crush and noise of contemporary India, and it plays cleverly and delicately with the tension of whether its two correspondents might eventually meet. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: A widowed Mumbai office worker begins a correspondence with a lonely housewife in this slow but rewarding drama, a cousin to the epistolary near-romance "84 Charing Cross Road." Read more

A.O. Scott, New York Times: The comedy is more wry than uproarious, the melodrama gently poignant rather than operatic, and the sentimentality just sweet enough to be satisfying rather than bothersome. Read more

Michael Sragow, Orange County Register: From the start, the movie mingles savory realism with elements of magic. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: "What do we live for?" is the question that pops up in The Lunchbox, a romance set in Mumbai. The film, a first feature from Ritesh Batra, aims to offer a meaningful answer: We live, ideally, for love. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: Like a lot of movies, but especially foreign films, "The Lunchbox" has a central idea and winning characters, and it builds a compelling situation. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: "The Lunchbox" is a feast of delights, one of the best stories about the connection between food and love the movies have ever seen. Read more

Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: A lovely little film from a place where the little things linger. Read more

Mary Houlihan, Chicago Sun-Times: Atouching and credible story that easily draws the viewer into the lives of its characters. Read more

Adam Nayman, Globe and Mail: If co-writer and director Ritesh Batra occasionally takes his sweet time getting from point A to point B, it's equally true that he gives the audience a nice, comfortable ride. Read more

Tony Wong, Toronto Star: A romantic comedy based on the most trifling and sentimental of conceits, while deftly avoiding a descent into schmaltz. Read more

Tom Huddleston, Time Out: There's nothing wildly original here, but it's carried off with charm and wit, and a pair of very enjoyable central performances. Read more

Jon Frosch, Village Voice: A slow-building, pleasingly low-key romantic dramedy set in Mumbai. Read more