Kitchen Stories
IFC Films | Release Date: February 20, 2004 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
75
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 33 Critic Reviews
Positive:
32
Mixed:
1
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
There's nothing casual about the way this film has been put together, yet that painstaking care leads to laughter that is completely unrestrained. Read full review
88
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
Features an absurdist sensibility that ultimately melts your heart. It's certainly one of the stranger movies you'll see. Read full review
88
PremierePeter Debruge
In the end, it's not the answer to the kitchen mystery that matters but the revelation that there's ultimately no difference between this bachelor scientist and his bachelor subject. Read full review
88
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
Serves to champion human irrepressibility and unpredictability. It's the flip side to the defeatism of "Distant," but with parallels, both in the very deliberate pacing and moments of visual wit. Read full review
83
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
It's a film that triumphs in small ways and satisfyingly demonstrates how our human nature is based on both the eccentricity of our hearts and the quirky workings of our heads. Read full review
80
Film ThreatD. W. Smith
Like all good films, it raises these types of questions, answering some, and leaving some for you to answer yourself. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterMichael Rechtshaffen
In the wonderfully droll Kitchen Stories, Norwegian filmmaker Bent Hamer takes an already inspired premise and weaves it into a spry absurdist comedy that also manages to find some considerable warmth. Read full review
80
New York Magazine (Vulture)Peter Rainer
The film is saying that, left to their own devices, all men would devolve into a morass of monastic grouches. Kitchen Stories is a prime piece of comic anthropology. Read full review
80
NewsweekDavid Ansen
Hamer, a meticulous observer himself, is a minimalist with heart. Read full review
80
L.A. WeeklyScott Foundas
In the landscape of contemporary movie comedies, Kitchen Stories is like a rejuvenating blast of crisp Nordic air. Read full review
80
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
His painstakingly coordinated scenes and exquisitely timed takes are the filmmaking equivalent of wringing every single use from a paper towel and then folding it before disposal. Read full review
80
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
Some comedies make you laugh out loud. This one makes you smile inwardly, but often.
80
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Settle into your seat for an enjoyable movie. Read full review
80
Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan
May, at times, be deadpan to the point of stiffness, but it's far from dead. Read full review
80
The New RepublicStanley Kauffmann
Folke and Isak have nowhere near the dimensions of the pair in "Waiting for Godot" or in "Endgame," but on his level, Hamer follows Beckett's belief that, especially in an odd situation, two can make a multitude. Read full review
80
Dallas ObserverBill Gallo
If you're in the mood for a quiet, beautifully acted little drama, liberally spiked with comedy, about the universal desires of the human heart, this may be the obscure gem you're looking for. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Acted and directed with a savvy understatement that perfectly matches the eccentric story. Read full review
75
New York PostLou Lumenick
Mostly a well-acted, expertly directed comedy with characters and situations of truly universal appeal. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleCarla Meyer
The film pays off eventually with a lovely story of friendship between two lonely men. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
It's a simple story told well, with plenty of lighthearted moments and kernels of thought-provoking material, but little to really excite the cinematic appetite. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
The movie's gentle humor and offbeat whimsy prove that humanity trumps bureaucratic foolishness, in Norway or anywhere else. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
It's hilarious - in a Scandinavian Sartre-esque sort of way. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldMarta Barber
The film's concept is so absurd and Hamer goes about developing it with such a regimented structure that you have to believe that the filmmaker is poking fun at himself and the world he knows well. Read full review
70
TimeRichard Schickel
What a pleasure it is not to be hectored by a director as we laugh our own little laughs, watching a profound story unfold. Read full review
70
VarietyDavid Rooney
The film appears consistently poised to go deeper but instead hangs back, making it less substantial than it might have been. Yet the sweet-natured story's gentle humor and poignancy should draw appreciative audiences. Read full review
70
The A.V. ClubNoel Murray
Seems too subtle at times and too obvious at others, but Hamer strings together pieces of conversation and layers of voyeurism (everybody in the movie is watching somebody) into a moving study of the perils of presumption. Read full review
70
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
Hamer perfectly captures that post-WWII spirit of better living through science by positioning streamlined Swedish cars and hump-backed trailers against the timeless Norwegian landscape. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
The humor is a bit dry for my taste, but director Bent Hamer and his actors know what they're doing every step of the way. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
The icy whimsy of Kitchen Stories is certainly well sustained, but you don't laugh at the movie so much as wait for the joke to thaw. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
An enjoyable study of ridiculous regimentation and a sure balm to anyone who has overdosed on the efficient designs at Ikea. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy Burr
If you've ever staggered out of IKEA oppressed by the clean, inhuman lines of a thousand affordable dinette sets, you may get a kick out of Bent Hamer's comedy Kitchen Stories. Read full review
63
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
By the end, Hamer's crisp, prickly compositions go soft. Read full review
60
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
Slight but sardonic, Norwegian director Bent Hamer's deadpan Kitchen Stories makes a taciturn comedy of nothingness out of color-coordinated '50s coziness and Scandinavian social planning. Read full review
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