The Cup
Festival Media | Release Date: January 28, 2000 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
70
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 23 Critic Reviews
Positive:
17
Mixed:
6
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
The first feature-length movie from Bhutan tells its lighthearted story through smart performances, appealing images, and unfailing good humor. Read full review
90
Washington PostDesson Thomson
A chalice of unpretentious delight, flowing over with goodwill, a cheeky love for soccer and, uh, Buddhist humor. Read full review
90
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
The lovability quotient is as high as the altitude. Read full review
88
New York PostHannah Brown
So joyous it can actually shake viewers out of a bad mood.
80
Dallas ObserverAndy Klein
This sweet little movie is a mild comedy, a much calmer cousin to "Sister Act," with men in robes rather than women in habits. Read full review
80
The New York TimesDana Stevens
A very funny movie, alive with a sense of absurdity and human foible. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
Could well end up on the coming Oscar ballot for best foreign language film. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
A delightful demonstration of how spirituality can coexist quite happily with an intense desire for France to defeat Brazil. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
Past the foreign mysticism and eccentricity of Tibetan Buddhism to portray its characters as unmistakably, identifiably human.
75
Boston GlobeJay Carr
A small film and, ultimately, a satisfying one. Read full review
75
Baltimore SunAnn Hornaday
It's a clear-eyed, unsentimental portrait and indelible for that very reason.
75
San Francisco ChroniclePeter Stack
The glimpses of religious life bumping into secular passion are touching and warmly comic. Read full review
70
Film.comElizabeth Weitzman
Wouldn't you rather learn about his culture from Norbu than from Richard Gere? Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
Charming, slyly comic and far from conventionally religious.
70
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
The tragedy of modern Tibet haunts this otherwise lighthearted tale of life inside a Buddhist monastery-in-exile. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
While never dull, The Cup is a leisurely, quiet film, rife with staid, sometimes ponderous moments reflecting the seriousness of their situation in exile. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
An improbably funny and transcendent account of soccer-mad Tibetan monks in exile at a Bhutan monastery.
60
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
Though The Cup is lovely to look at, it has none of the ceremonial rigor mortis of Scorsese's "Kundun." Read full review
60
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
Norbu tries too hard to please and charm, but his film at least carries the advantages of unactorly faces and a premise based on actual events that dramatizes the issue of religious vocation in a secular world. Read full review
58
Mr. ShowbizMichael Atkinson
A cute, clichéd, coming-of-age comedy.
50
Seattle Post-IntelligencerPaula Nechak
Never offers much enlightenment through its message. Read full review
50
Film.comErnest Hardy
Too slow-moving and too understated in much of its humor. Read full review
42
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Little more than a plodding celebration of global television trumping everything in its midst. Read full review
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70 Critic Reviews

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