Cote d'Azur
Strand Releasing | Release Date: September 9, 2005 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
47
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 19 Critic Reviews
Positive:
7
Mixed:
9
Negative:
3
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
This is a sophisticated adult treat in the French manner with an attractive and gifted cast and is essentially serious, yet often whimsical and always compassionate. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
The performances are mediocre. The heart is big. The weather is swell. Read full review
70
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
A finely balanced piece of comedic machinery. Read full review
70
Washington PostDesson Thomson
A romper that doesn't shy away from sexual frankness or Mediterranean laissez faire. Read full review
63
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
You know this movie is French (apart from the subtitles), because everyone looks great, gets naked and later breaks into a peppy musical number about the joys of lobster and shellfish. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy Burr
A broad, bawdy, silly French farce set on the Riviera in high season, it's a diversion at best and a strained souffle at worst, but it rings enough Gallic changes on the old family-summer-gone-horribly-wrong genre to deliver some unexpectedly sharp laughs. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
A mild and merry romp about family, friends and sexual identity. Read full review
60
Dallas ObserverJean Oppenheimer
Well acted by an unusually likable cast. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubNoel Murray
In the end, all these sexual shenanigans just provide an excuse to play some seductive music and drink in some seaside scenery. Ah, Europe. Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
In Ducastel's and Martineau's hands all the unpleasantness blows away like a kiss on a soft summer breeze, a light wind that nevertheless leaves a vaguely unpleasant scent in its wake. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
At every turn Cote d'Azur settles for tidy, tinny resolutions to seismic family crises--yet, with a message of tolerance and its heart on its sleeve, the film is certainly tolerable in a summer rental-by-the-sea sort of way. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderJoshua Katzman
Real-life partners Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau wrote and directed this frothy sex farce, incorporating musical numbers that recall Jacques Demy; the results are middling, but the actors' verve compensates for the clumsy choreography and lackadaisical camerawork. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldPeter Debruge
As far as titles go, Cote d'Azur doesn't quite cut it for this topsy-turvy French comedy, in which an innocent seaside vacation gets really messy once a family full of busybodies starts poking around in one another's business. Read full review
40
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
Bruni-Tedeschi is her usual radiantly libidinal presence, but channeling Bette Midler doesn't become her, and even she can't redeem all the redundant vaudeville carry-on. Read full review
40
The Hollywood ReporterFrank Scheck
Unfortunately, the screenplay contains little real wit, with the result that the various plot machinations have a strained quality that tends to reduce the proceedings of their intended giddiness. On the other hand, the performers are attractive; there's plenty of nudity; the setting is scenic, and the musical numbers -- well, they're pretty bad. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
Its ultimate message is as French as they come: The family that lays together, stays together. What the hell, it's more fun than a riot. Read full review
30
The New York TimesStephen Holden
Neither funny nor sexy, nor leavened by the wistful laissez-faire wisdom of the typical sophisticated Gallic comedy, it is less than a trifle. Read full review
25
New York PostV.A. Musetto
It's hard to make a dull movie with copious nudity and all kinds of sex (straight, bi and gay), although French filmmakers Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau manage to do so in Cote d'Azur. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Has no truth, wisdom or honesty, and it's barely entertaining. Read full review
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