| CRITICS' REVIEWS |
| SOURCE |
RATING |
THE GIST |
| POSITIVE REVIEWS FOR BELLA |
| Chicago Sun-Times | 3 stars/4 | "… a heart-tugger with the confidence not to tug too hard." |
| Houston Chronicle | 3 stars/4 | "A film as simple as Bella can work only one way, and that's by fulfilling its genre duties." |
| New York Post | 3 stars/4 | "… a disarming indie romance …" |
| Orlando Weekly | 5 stars/5 | "… penetratingly real, with the grit, glare and sorrow that so often invades reality." |
| San Francisco Chronicle | N/A | "… a tearjerker that earns its sobs with heartfelt emotions." |
| NEGATIVE REVIEWS FOR BELLA |
| Slant Magazine | 1½ stars/4 | "… a cruel barrage of sappy butterfly imagery, dubious evocations of "New York moments," and one laughable spectacle of cultural immersion before it's completely unpacked." |
| Village Voice | N/A | "… the most tragic and serious moments here come off as melodramatic jokes." |
| MIXED REVIEWS FOR BELLA |
| Chicago Tribune | 2 stars/4 | "… the melodrama and cheap theatrics of the story's off-center segments drag the whole thing down." |
| Newsday | 2½ stars/4 | "A whisper of mystery and sprinkling of magic loft this parable of broken souls somewhere above the New York streets where it so comfortably tells its tale." |
| Variety | N/A | "So slight that a gentle breeze might tip it over …" |
