The Samuel Goldwyn Company | Release Date: February 5, 1992 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
78
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 31 Critic Reviews
Positive:
30
Mixed:
1
Negative:
0
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88
The movie is both wonderfully tender and wryly funny. [05 Feb 1992, p.31]
88
No American film this year can touch it. [28 Feb 1992, p.10]
88
An exotic and erotic love story about an interracial couple whose cultures have more in common than they ever imagined. [12 Feb 1992, p.D]
88
The interracial love affair in Mira Nair's Mississippi Masala doesn't burn up the screen the way it did in Spike Lee's overheated "Jungle Fever." But the movie itself is ultimately more satisfying, generating much more light than sizzle. [14 Feb 1992, p.23]
88
Most important, Taraporevala and Nair have created a seamless story that entertains, informs -- and maybe even teaches. [28 Feb 1992, p.75]
83
An immensely enjoyable cross-cultural parable full of appealing characters and well-crafted performances. [14 Feb 1992]
80
The Hollywood ReporterStaff (Not Credited)
Never weighted down with thematic preachings, Mississippi Masala is a captivatingly quirky love story which, through its combustive energy, probably conveys more about cultural assimilation than all the sociological treatises in the Kingdom. [05 Feb 1992]
75
In its sweet, slightly melancholy, gently humorous way, it fills the screen with the freshest, most winning love story we've seen in ages. [14 Feb 1992, p.39]
75
The movie assumes its multiculturalism with grace and humor, moving between its various worlds with a delighted eye for distinguishing features and a rich sense of character. [14 Feb 1992, p.B7]
75
Mississippi is full of good will, but it's not preachy, and its story of romance in an ethnic broth is fascinating when it's working right. [14 Feb 1992, p.5G]
75
Despite its hastily tacked-on resolution, Mississippi Masala is still a lesson well delivered - flecked with humour and never pedantic. [28 Feb 1992]
75
If some of the ingredients in this "masala" aren't exactly first-rate, it is spicy enough to recommend. [28 Feb 1992, p.20]
75
Mira Nair is a director who, for a change, is not obsessed by the way bigotry pulls people of different cultures apart. Instead, she is amazed by the way love keeps bringing them together. [12 Feb 1992, p.41]
75
[Nair's] sure touch with the details of social decorum carries the film through. [14 Feb 1992, p.D3]
75
Without making a big deal of it, this film says a lot about assimilation and the ability to change. [05 Feb 1992, p.5D]
70
Despite the awkwardness of much of the staging, and the unevenness of the script, the movie does give you a sense of real people living real lives. [14 Feb 1992, p.B9]