Critic consensus:It might be thinly written and messily made, but Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life is also appropriately glamorous and intense -- and powerfully led by a gripping performance from Erik Elmosnino.

Numbered reviews:1. Viewers unfamiliar with the length, breadth and weirdness of Gainsbourg's imposing body of work will find it difficult to connect with this film.
2. French comic-book artist Joann Sfar ... celebrates his subject's impudence and flair - and displays those qualities in abundance himself.
3. Lacks either the dramatic intensity or the arresting insight that might have lifted it out of the pedestrian realm of the admiring biopic.
4. What's surprising, and ultimately disappointing, about Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life is the degree to which Sfar allows biopic obligations to smother his more whimsical instincts.
5. Gainsbourg is a noble attempt and interesting enough to keep you watching, but it's bound to disappoint fans of the singer's and possibly will confuse any newcomer to the story.
6. Despite the attention the film pays to the divide between the man as the ungainly, loving second-gen immigrant versus the boozy provocateur, it's not a portrait of much psychological depth.
7. A viewer who comes into "Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life" knowing nothing about Serge Gainsbourg will not come out the other side especially enlightened about the late French-Jewish singer-songwriter's life, least of all why it is heroic.
8. Still, for all the 40-year-old filmmaker's interpolated animations and puppets, for the insouciant, slapdash tone that characterizes his graphic novels, and for his protagonist's proclivity for scandal, the movie is too timidly conceived by half.
9. Why was Gainsbourg a hero? The film leaves the question hanging. I am afraid it was only because, like Sinatra, he did it his way. Which no one can deny.
10. Elmosnino gives a deft and moving performance as the insecure piano player who reinvents himself as Gainsbourg, pop poet and improbable ladies' man, impelled to break taboos not only out of anger, but also to affirm his own existence.


Critic consensus:A dynamic doc following five Romani bands is a pleasure for the senses thanks to vibrant colors and eclectic music.

Numbered reviews:1. Only the Taliban could dislike the joyful music on display herein.
2. The poverty contrasts sharply with the excitement of the tour bus and cuts to the heart of the songs themselves, famed for their "joy and sorrow".
3. The characters are as lively as their music and I enjoyed riding along with them.
4. The energy is electric, the camerawork crisp and colourful, the editing note-perfect. . . . for the Roma, music sounds the notes of a harsh, maligned cultural history, making them all the more unforgettable while demanding remembrance, even awe.
5. Gypsy Caravan - When the Road Bends evokes the US tour of Roma musicians whose astonishing diversity ranges from the Indian group with their bejewelled drag dancer to oompah-based Romanians.
6. Dellal's documentary often seems like a cleaned-up, homogenized version of the chaotic Roma world presented by Gatlif, Kusturica, et al. But even toned down and packaged, the music itself has the power to thrill.
7. For its glimpses of various lifestyles and personalities -- an ancient but spry fiddler, a young male who performs in drag -- it isn't bad.
8. Blessed with a wealth of characters, moving stories and roof-raising performances, Gypsy Caravan is as rich as the music it promotes. Fans of Buena Vista should definitely join the club.
9. It's a slow, sometimes grating process for an hour or so, but once everyone wises up to their shared heritage, a euphoric celebration of what it means to be a gypsy takes flight.
10. So long seen as ragged leftovers from an older historical epoch, the Roma turn out to be a modern people who have a lot to teach over-developed societies about what it means to be human.


Critic consensus:It's long, frantic, and stuffed to the gills with comic actors and set pieces -- and that's exactly its charm.

Numbered reviews:
1. The comic competition is so keen that it is impossible to single out any one participant as outstanding.
2. This comic extravaganza starts off funny, but exhausts rather than delights.
3. lives up to its intentions as an epic madcap farce, and it offers enough comic variation through the multiple characters and situations that it never feels overlong or monotonous
4. For every inspired set-piece, there are one or two that don't work, making this a frequently frustrating watch.
5. There's a documentary-like pleasure in watching so many legends of comedy share the screen... along with the disappointment of watching so many very funny people fail to be funny at all.
6. It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World remains a technological and creative marvel for reasons beyond its sometimes fitful ability to make audiences laugh.
7. What can you say about a comedy where the Three Stooges are the most sedate people on screen?
8. [VIDEO ESSAY] A classic example of the Screwball Comedy genre.
9. Spencer Tracy, Sid Caesar, Mickey Rooney and host of good-old-fashioned-comedy chums cram in the action, but miss the laughs in this frantic bank caper comedy.
10. Stanley Kramer strikes out again with this elephantine 1963 attempt at uproarious comedy.