Not One Less
Columbia TriStar Home Video | Release Date: February 18, 2000 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
73
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 22 Critic Reviews
Positive:
18
Mixed:
4
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
It's an uplifting movie about the rewards of perseverance and community. Read full review
100
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
Has a slow-burning emotional power. Read full review
100
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
A beautiful and genuinely spirit-lifting film about poverty and education. Read full review
91
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
If it touches up against the syrupy at a very few moments, it's nevertheless consistently clear-eyed and convincing. Read full review
80
Village VoiceLeslie Camhi
The film's occasional dips into sentimental cuteness and its too-pat ending can't cancel the gap that yawns ever wider between rural and urban society. Read full review
80
L.A. WeeklyF. X. Feeney
Zhang's work is always worth watching, but this is the first of his films in which the sorrows are so heart-rending, its many comic moments so laugh-out-loud human. Read full review
80
Film.comGraham Fuller
Simple but charming. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
Has a warmth and sweetness that is especially hard to resist. Read full review
80
The New York TimesA.O.Scott
A splendid, assured piece of storytelling. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
In many ways, Not One Less resembles the socialist-realist dramas of the early Communist regimes. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
His story is simple, unadorned, direct. Only the margins are complicated. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldPhoebe Flowers
Zhang, who tried to make his actors as unaware of the camera as possible, lets the story evolve slowly and deliberately. Read full review
75
Seattle Post-IntelligencerPaula Nechak
An empowering film for children, showing them at their most capable, working through problems and finding innovative solutions to overcome what seems like an insurmountable obstacle. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeJay Carr
In style and story line, the film is daring in its simplicity. Read full review
75
San Francisco ExaminerWesley Morris
Like a Sally Field movie by Vittorio De Sica: Zhang wants to affect you with the subtle sting of his politics. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChroniclePeter Stack
It's an excellent movie for kids, because it is about how amazing children can be. Read full review
75
New York PostJonathan Foreman
A sweet, lushly photographed but occasionally slow film. Read full review
70
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
This is much more than a typically one-dimensional message-movie -- it's obviously the work of a master filmmaker . Read full review
60
Washington PostDesson Thomson
At first, the picture is moving. . And suddenly charm turns to quasi-commie didacticism. Read full review
50
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Use of a loosely written screenplay and a nonprofessional cast in this picture weakens its dramatic appeal even as it lends authenticity and local color. Read full review
50
TimeRichard Corliss
To Western eyes, this meandering parable registers as a perplexity and a disappointment. Read full review
40
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
Its resolution reeks of phoniness and self-congratulation, even if some of the narrative strands leading up to it are fairly absorbing. Read full review
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