Roman de gare
Samuel Goldwyn Films | Release Date: April 25, 2008 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
71
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 27 Critic Reviews
Positive:
26
Mixed:
1
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
A brilliant piece of construction, and talking too much about its specifics would only spoil the overall experience. Read full review
88
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Like nearly any thriller, no matter how intelligently and tightly plotted, it is possible to poke holes in its fabric. But, as it's unspooling in the theater, it makes for a wonderful movie house experience. Here's a sleeper worth a few extra miles' travel to see. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
A sly catalog of deceits and a gentle commentary on slippery creativity and desire. Read full review
83
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
By far the most purely entertaining of all his films to reach these shores, Roman de Gare is the rare trick film in which all the tricks reveal something amusing, involving or poignant about its characters. Read full review
80
Chicago ReaderAndrea Gronvall
Slyly exploiting audience expectations and prejudices, Lelouch calls into question our very ways of seeing, even as he and his longtime writing partner, Pierre Uytterhoeven, craft an elegant meditation on loss and rebirth. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterRichard James Havis
The result is infectiously enjoyable. Read full review
80
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
A glossy, enjoyable thriller that isn't quite as tricky or Hitchcockian as it wants to be, Roman de Gare gets by on high style and nice central performances by rubber-faced Dominique Pinon. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
The freshness and originality that flow through Roman de Gare now burst into full flower, revealing the director's depth and perception. Read full review
75
New York PostV.A. Musetto
Roman de Gare translates as "station novel," a book you might pick up to read on a train journey and then discard when you arrive at your destination. Lelouch's film is the cinematic equivalent, enjoyable fluff that your mind will discard after the closing credits - but worth seeing nevertheless. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
Lelouch means to transcend the genre. He doesn't really move much beyond his usual glib panache here, but the plot is intriguing and so are the actors. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
The structure of Lelouch's pedal-to-the-metal story commands attention and suspense. The three principals are enormously engaging, and Gérard de Battista's succulent cinematography creates the sense of actually being there. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneSid Smith
The ultimate charms of the movie lie in Lelouch’s confident control, in his telling of the story his way, almost stubbornly, his canvas splattered with both garish and hypnotic splotches. Read full review
75
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
There's a lot of pleasure in seeing a mature filmmaker put together something so intricate with what seems like so little strain. Read full review
75
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
The film's not really a whodunit or even a whoizzit, so learning his identity matters less than what happens after he reveals it. The film becomes truly French in its attitudes toward thwarted ambition and emotion, right down to an ending that may strike Americans as melodramatic. Read full review
70
The New YorkerAnthony Lane
The air of mystery here is appealing, because the secrets behind it seem to matter both a great deal and not at all--rather like love, which has been Lelouch’s subject ever since he made "A Man and a Woman." Read full review
70
VarietyScott Foundas
Picture gets an undeniable boost from the ace performance of the short, beady-eyed Pinon. Read full review
70
Village VoiceElla Taylor
This goofy tale of self-emancipation, a love story made by a mature man wise to the possibilities of the improbable, is also a thriller with an unexpectedly dark edge. Read full review
70
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
A thriller, a murder mystery and a somewhat self-conscious literary puzzle. All of that is entertaining enough, if a bit preposterous and overdone, but the twists and convolutions of the film’s beginning and end enable a middle that is dizzying domestic comedy. Read full review
70
Washington PostDesson Thomson
The movie is more entertaining than it is logical; its narrative leaps are sometimes ahead of our ability to believe them. But as the compellingly enigmatic Pierre, Pinon keeps us rapt. Read full review
70
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
If you're willing to go along with it, as I was, then being manipulated -- or at least actively misled -- becomes a pleasure. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubSam Adams
Roman De Gare's neatest trick is Pinon's performance, which draws out a hitherto unseen leading-man allure. Read full review
67
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
The film -- Lelouch's 49th in 41 years -- stars Fanny Ardant as a glamorous, beautiful and phenomenally popular Parisian novelist who we first see in a flash-forward as she's being hauled into the Sureté, interrogated and formally charged with murder. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
It's contemporary French cinema without a dollop of Besson and Jeunet's beloved CGI theatrics, and all the better for it. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
The 70-something director puts us back in luxury's lap with Roman de Gare, which looks just like the high-roller ads you get in the first 40 pages of Vogue or Vanity Fair but feels vaguely more emotional. Lelouch wants to tie a Hermès scarf around our hearts. Read full review
63
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
It's so clever that finally that's all it is: clever. Read full review
63
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
Never seen a murder mystery you couldn't outwit? Here is your movie. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsJoe Neumaier
The story's Hitchcockian plot loses steam quickly, though Pinon's salty presence keeps things from getting totally bloodless. Read full review
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