Friday Night
Wellspring Media | Release Date: June 30, 2003 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
69
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 20 Critic Reviews
Positive:
15
Mixed:
5
Negative:
0

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
The most sensuous and intimate work of cinema of the past few years, a film that luxuriates in the immediacy of the moment. There is no guilt to the act, only exhilaration, joy and freedom. At least for the moment. Read full review
100
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Ms. Denis is one of contemporary film's best stylists. Friday Night is part tone poem, part love song, and all pure magic. Read full review
90
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
Seasoned with amusing bits of fantasy, like a pizza topping that briefly curls into a smile, Friday Night captures the city at its most inviting, alive with the feeling that wonderful things can happen to ordinary people. Read full review
90
The New RepublicStanley Kauffmann
Denis and her editor, Nelly Quettier, have assumed that they do not have to show the details of sex because we know them already. Instead, Denis and Quettier create a small visual poem on the subject. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
Ziplessness has rarely looked so inviting, nor have a couple of actors seemed so much like real people -- attractive, but hardly hunks of perfection -- who happened to get lucky, and are delighted to throw some of their guiltless good fortune our way. Read full review
80
SalonStephanie Zacharek
A rare and tender delight. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter Travers
A mesmerizing erotic odyssey. Read full review
75
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
Combines spareness in plot and dialogue with luxurious, sensual technique in such a way that the craft sometimes overwhelms the slender story. Read full review
70
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
Richer in metaphor than narrative drive. Read full review
70
L.A. WeeklyScott Foundas
Beguiling and intoxicating. Read full review
70
The New YorkerDavid Denby
The movie is not a bore, exactly, but it’s certainly a stunt and a disappointment, for at first the situation is provocative. [16 & 23 June 2003, p. 200]
63
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
This movie gives us mostly the "what" when we need a bit of the "why" as well. In her other, better work, Denis always supplies it. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeJanice Page
Has a sultry and complex psychological intent all its own, yet it's reminiscent of some earlier Denis works, including ''Nenette and Boni.'' Read full review
63
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
It is driven by the finely expressed -- if nearly mute -- performance of Lemercier. We learn a lot about this woman and her emotional state from Lemercier's subtle body language. As for Lindon's Jean, well, it's enough that he's there and doesn't require batteries. Read full review
63
New York PostMegan Lehmann
If you give yourself over to it, this romantic tale of a liberating one-night stand proves oddly seductive and generates a warm afterglow. Read full review
60
Film ThreatRich Cline
Not terribly engaging, but surprisingly moving. Read full review
60
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
Dialogue is kept to a bare minimum, but the film's complex underlying sound mix -- a subtle symphony of faintly heard voices and the muted sounds of cars -- adds a haunting texture to what could have been the slightest of stories about a woman's ephemeral victory over emotional numbness. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
Its numerous ancillary characters are so closely observed that even those without speaking parts register as people, in a manner than blurs the line between strangeness and intimacy. Read full review
50
The New York TimesStephen Holden
As much as the story, based on a novel by Emmanuèle Bernheim, has the irresistible earmarks of the kind of high-toned bodice-ripper at which the French excel, its cinematic realization is oddly gawky and tepid. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
Never makes the leap from a little fantasy about sex with a stranger to a larger story about a woman settling down for life. Read full review
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