Mostly Martha
Paramount Classics | Release Date: August 16, 2002 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
72
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 28 Critic Reviews
Positive:
22
Mixed:
6
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
78
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
There's more at work in this gorgeous and affecting picture than simple culinary sex appeal. Read full review
75
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
The heartbreak comes not from watching her fail, but from realizing how easy it would be for her to succeed. If only she knew better how to try.
50
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
If there's nothing here for romantics, there's even less for gourmands. Nettelbeck fails to produce a good food metaphor, let alone an impressive, palate-aching preparation montage Read full review
75
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
If you liked "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," you're on safe ground here -- Next time, I'd like to see Gedeck serve up a hearty meal instead of a tasty but unfilling appetizer. Read full review
90
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
This is better than good, it's wonderful: if facial expressions can be compared to colors, Gedeck works with an unusually broad palette, constantly surprising us, and she helps her costars shine. Read full review
88
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
Thanks to Echer, Nettelbeck and this delicious movie, I was able to hear "Country" and the other Jarrett tunes in scene after scene - heightening moods, lyricizing action and making Hamburg seem like a wintry love song. Predictable or not, that's often as good as it gets. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
Nettelbeck has a particularly lovely sense of behind-the-scenes restaurant choreography. And her warm, patient understanding of little girls' psyches guides young Maxime Foerste, as the turbulent niece, to a terrific performance. Read full review
60
L.A. WeeklyHazel-Dawn Dumpert
Nettelbeck's storytelling grace, however, only highlights her clumsy script, which drags the viewer through an all-too-predictable menu of catharsis and romance that can overpower the film’s subtler, more complex flavors. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesManohla Dargis
It's a drag how Nettelbeck sees working women -- or at least this working woman -- for whom she shows little understanding; there's a puritan, even punitive, cast to the way she sees her character, whose pathology she digs at with the tenacity of a truffle hound. Read full review
63
Miami HeraldMarta Barber
The film has a rather charming way of convincing you that there are times to shrug off the caviar and champagne and go for a fulfilling bowl of spaghetti. Read full review
80
New Times (L.A.)Jean Oppenheimer
Enormously appealing romantic comedy-drama.
75
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
The course of Martha's relationships with Lina and Mario holds no surprises, but the performances of Gedeck and Castellitto, like the work of a great chef, make something special out of something very ordinary. Read full review
63
New York PostMegan Lehmann
The plot is thin as consomme, and the thudding score is distracting, but the heartfelt storytelling and Michael Bertl's disarming cinematography make this a food film to savor. Read full review
88
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
Add Mostly Martha to the list of great mouth-watering food flicks - "Eat Drink Man Woman," "Big Night," "Babette's Feast" -- but don't stop there. Add it to another list: movies that get at the heart of what family, and love, is all about. Read full review
83
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
A feel-good movie that doesn't think it needs to rub people's noses in the happy stuff to get its points across or eliminate all the disturbing shades to make a uniformly glowing whole.
88
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
As much as any other motion picture that employs the preparation and consumption of food as a key element, Mostly Martha provides the perfect blend of cinematic nourishment and gratification. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Little gem. Read full review
83
Seattle Post-IntelligencerPaula Nechak
Nettelbeck has created a movie recipe that ladles great dollops of dessertlike joy and equally dark tragedy around her strong-willed heroine. It wouldn't work without actors capable of finding vulnerability, humanity and kindness in sometimes inaccessible characters. Read full review
80
SlateDavid Edelstein
The German reserve and Italian extroversion are in just the right balance. The movie exists on a tantalizing border -- and I don't mean Switzerland. Read full review
60
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
Becomes precisely the sort of film its elements demand. As tearful goodbyes and joyful montage sequences set to lite-jazz saxophoning take over, "neatly winsome" trumps "messy drama" yet again. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
It is, in short, a compendium of clichés, yet with a presentation that makes the familiar seem remarkably warm and fresh. Read full review
90
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
Extremely enjoyable, though a few degrees shy of perfection. Read full review
80
TimeRichard Corliss
Nettelbeck is a sharp observer of life's surprises, and Gedeck has an appraising, intelligent beauty. Her Martha is like the film: tart on the outside, sweet on the inside, with a delectable aftertaste. Read full review
60
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
The plot unfolds exactly as you expect, but Gedeck imbues Martha with a remarkably subtlety of spirit. Read full review
80
VarietyDerek Elley
A charming relationships comedy about food, gourmet cooking and emotionally chilling out. Anchored by a career-best performance from German thesp Martina Gedeck. Read full review
60
Village VoiceLeslie Camhi
Handsomely shot, German filmmaker Sandra Nettelbeck's third feature suffers from a certain romantic predictability. Read full review
80
Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan
Sweet without being saccharine and funny without being forced, the closely observed romantic comedy treats the culinary arts as a metaphor for personal healing. Read full review
70
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
A sweet, even delectable diversion from the more explosive cinematic fare of the season. Read full review
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