Metacritic Movie Ratings
The Band's Visit Reviews

A sample of reviews from critics across the country.

• 100

  out of 100

  Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert

  The Band's Visit has not provided any of the narrative payoffs we might have expected, but has provided something more valuable: An interlude involving two "enemies," Arabs and Israelis, that shows them both as only ordinary people with ordinary hopes, lives and disappointments. It has also shown us two souls with rare beauty.

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• 91

  out of 100

  Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum

  Something marvelous happens as the filmmaker, in his first feature, expertly metes out small scenes of communication between people taught, for generations, to be wary of one another: This Band swings with the rhythms of hope.

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• 80

  out of 100

  Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan

  Both sweet-natured and sharply pointed, a film whose poignant, emotional effects and subtle acting sneak up on you.

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• 80

  out of 100

  The Hollywood Reporter

  A "little" film with a great reach.

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• 70

  out of 100

  Variety

  A warm and delightful take on cross-cultural relations that proves that sometimes a light touch is just what's needed to address serious topics.

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• 70

  out of 100

  The New York TimesManohla Dargis

  Mr. Kolirin, it emerges, is wrenching comedy out of intense melancholia.

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• 70

  out of 100

  Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern

  This modest little fable from Israel, in English, Hebrew and Arabic, has spellbinding resonances, yet never breaks the spell by blowing its own horn.

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See all The Band's Visit movie reviews at Metacritic.com