A strangely overdone finalé, complete with surging musical crescendos and tears, rings false, given the earnest and unsentimental qualities exhibited elsewhere in Gauger's script and direction.
Comment
03/06/09
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Owl and the Sparrow (2008)
81
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:16
Fresh:13
Rotten:3
Average Rating:7.1/10
Reviews for Owl and the Sparrow
1 - 16 (sorted by rotten rating; UK critics are listed first)
By taking a fairly unromantic approach to the standard strangers-meet-in-a-cold-world premise, writer-director Stephane Gauger crafts a lovely, lovelorn fable.
05/29/09
... a slice of relatively uneventful life in Vietnam. ... I never cared about any of the characters or about the predictable story.
01/22/09
A captivating and engrossing drama brimming with genuine warmth and tenderness as well as a charismatic, radiant and heartfelt performance by newcomer Pham Thi Han.
05/30/09
What [director] Gauger has created is a quietly affecting fairy tale.
01/16/09
Top CriticThe movie doesn't play as saccharine as it sounds, but gentle sentimentality runs this show nonetheless.
01/30/09
Hypnotic, heartfelt character study at its gentlest and most charming. I was so enrapt in this tale of a little girl and the new family she finds that my natural cynicism didn't stand a chance.
01/18/09
An enchanting story of a homeless girl on the streets of Saigon who has a big heart and a yearning to be accepted for who she is.
05/29/09
A simple Vietnamese story well told, one that evokes images of Truffaut and Panahi.
05/23/09
A pleasant change of pace to see a film set in Saigon which isn't a high body-count splatter flick about the ravages of the war in Indochina. Worthwhile if only for the reminder that the Vietnamese are people, too!
05/30/09
Sentimental without being cloying, the film is a charmer, just like the gravely wide-eyed Pham.
05/28/09
Stephane Gauger's debut feature, Owl and the Sparrow, is a charming little movie, nothing more.
05/29/09
Top CriticOwl and the Sparrow is yet one more film that preaches the importance of opening your heart and reaching out to those around you, but that treacly sentiment is nicely undercut by the unvarnished naturalness of the actors.
05/27/09
Owl and the Sparrow is a beautifully com posed romance from Vietnam.
05/29/09
Smartly balancing earnest sentiment with an unvarnished look at contemporary Vietnamese life, [Director Stephane] Gauger deftly bridges cultural, emotional and artistic barriers while remaining true to a uniquely Asian aesthetic.
01/16/09
The principal actors all do a nice job, but a special commendation goes to young Han, a Saigon resident with some experience onstage.
02/13/09
1 - 16 (sorted by rotten rating; UK critics are listed first)
Latest News for Owl and the Sparrow
February 10, 2009:
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