5x2
THINKFilm | Release Date: June 10, 2005 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
62
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 24 Critic Reviews
Positive:
16
Mixed:
8
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
Ozon's greatest special effect is holding the camera in tight on the faces of Bruni-Tedeschi (one of the most expressive faces in French cinema) and Freiss. Read full review
91
Portland OregonianM. E. Russell
A sort of anti-date movie, a smart but deeply cynical study in failure, with our sense of loss growing in direct proportion to the characters' romantic hopes. Read full review
80
Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan
Plays a little like a mystery, the central question of which is not whodunit but why. Read full review
80
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
Unlike "Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind," which holds the memories of a doomed affair as precious, there's nothing bittersweet about Ozon's failed romance, but its problems are equally true. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
When you piece it all together, it becomes mildly fascinating. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
5x2 is a little talky and the pace is slow, but, for this kind of motion picture, it's one of the best around. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Compellingly acted and rich in visual ideas, but a bit thin in its psychological approach. Read full review
70
Washington PostStephen Hunter
You can make a good movie about a bad marriage, as countless directors, the latest being Ozon, have discovered. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderAndrea Gronvall
Austere and formally complex, the drama may nevertheless be Ozon's most accessible film due to the physical attractiveness and vitality of the intelligent couple. Read full review
70
VarietyLisa Nesselson
Excellent perfs and writer-director Francois Ozon's sure, unfussy way with the camera add up to a viewing experience whose richness depends in large part on how much the viewer reads into the human templates on display. Read full review
70
Village VoiceDennis Lim
Deceptively placid and subtly unpredictable drama. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Feminist sanctimony, it turns out, looks much the same forward and backward. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
In 5 x 2, the 2 are terrific; it's the 5 that needs work. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
Cool, clinical and not altogether convincing. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy Burr
It flirts intriguingly with the unknowable, what it shows us of the knowable isn't terribly interesting. Read full review
63
New York PostKyle Smith
France's François Ozon's 5 x 2, which resembles Ingmar Bergman's "Scenes from a Marriage" told in reverse, could be played for laughs, or suspense -- who killed this marriage? -- or with the rueful irony of Stephen Sondheim's backward musical "Merrily We Roll Along." Read full review
60
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
A wickedly entertaining bit of domestic tragedy. Read full review
60
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
In the end I respected 5x2 more than I loved it. As we move backward in time, the distance between audience and characters inevitably widens -- we know what's going to happen and they don't -- and I found the effect a little astringent. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesCarina Chocano
Bruni-Tedeschi is a lovely actress, and whatever emotion is evident onscreen comes courtesy of her. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
The film is bleak, not particularly compelling, and the characters are frustrating, the enemies of their own happiness. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
Ozon's take on this marriage in particular is notable – apart from Freiss and Bruni-Tedeschi's bracing performances – for his unwillingness to let things spiral out of complete control. Read full review
50
The New York TimesDana Stevens
Told in the usual sequence, the story of Gilles and Marion would be a banal bell curve of infatuation, bliss, boredom, regret and recrimination. As it is, 5x2 does not quite make the case that Gilles and Marion are entirely worth our interest, let alone our sympathy, but the reversal of narrative order gives their ordinary moments together a faint aura of mystery, as Mr. Ozon teases us with the conceit that it will all make sense in the end - or rather, the beginning. Read full review
50
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
There’s precious little character development forward or backward. Read full review
40
Dallas ObserverMelissa Levine
For anyone who believes in the gorgeously messy truth of French social drama, it's a grave disappointment. Read full review
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