War of the Buttons
Weinstein Company, The | Release Date: October 12, 2012 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
41
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 14 Critic Reviews
Positive:
1
Mixed:
9
Negative:
4
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanOct 19, 2012
Moving without being melodramatic, War of the Buttons is a tale of the worst -- and the best -- that people of all ages are capable of. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesSheri LindenOct 12, 2012
Though it's handled with little subtlety, the way the atmosphere of suspicion in Vichy France filters down to the kids is a smart slant on the material. Read full review
60
NPRElla TaylorOct 11, 2012
War of the Buttons deftly folds France's unsavory collusions into a rather more rousing tale of resistance. I don't doubt that some of these heroics happened. But the way they're framed conveniently takes the edge off saying sorry. Read full review
50
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsNov 1, 2012
War of the Buttons is handsomely crafted and it's touting tolerance, but as long as we open the gates to the Trojan horse of historical simplification, there's a danger that Hollywood could attack us with "The Goonies Go to the Gulag." Be vigilant! Read full review
50
Boston GlobeTom RussoOct 25, 2012
But when there's such a lighthearted, boys-at-play manner about the story's established aspects, it creates an odd disconnect from the World War II tolerance lessons that the filmmakers seek to add. War and persecution are bad, kids - except when it's all in good fun. Read full review
50
Portland OregonianMarc MohanOct 18, 2012
War of the Buttons means well. But ultimately there's only marginally more edge to this treatment of World War II than there is to the average episode of "Hogan's Heroes." Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleAmy BiancolliOct 11, 2012
To be fair, War of the Buttons is a film with a modest agenda. It does not attempt to provide a complete or even vaguely realistic depiction of the rural French resistance in the endgame to World War II. Instead, it provides a fable. Read full review
42
The A.V. ClubAlison WillmoreOct 10, 2012
The use of a real war to give added emotional heft to this already potentially manipulative story make this film an act of callous calculation behind the beautiful shots of the French countryside. Read full review
40
Arizona RepublicBarbara VanDenburghOct 23, 2012
For a movie that aspires to be heartwarming, it sure does inspire a lot of eye rolling.
40
The New York TimesRachel SaltzOct 12, 2012
The slick filmmaking - the movie has a glossy, Hollywood-ready feel that sometimes tips into the cutesy - works against its themes. Read full review
30
Village VoiceJon FroschOct 9, 2012
Of course, everyone in the film - aside from one or two conspicuous villains - turns out to be a resistant, making an otherwise harmlessly corny movie something slightly more bothersome: a revisionist fantasy of French heroism. Read full review
25
New York PostKyle SmithOct 11, 2012
The parallels between the kids' war and the real one are made far too obvious by Christophe Barratier, who made the equally treacly "The Chorus" and infests the movie with nonstop musical goo. Read full review
20
Time OutSam AdamsOct 9, 2012
That War of the Buttons shows no insight into how a nation's will could be so easily subdued is disappointing; that it shows no curiosity on the subject is inexcusable. Read full review
12
Slant MagazineCalum MarshOct 10, 2012
By the time the drama is wrapped up with a bow and every child has learned a valuable life lesson, even the gap-toothed little tyke there solely for comic relief has begun to grate. Read full review
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