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Bel Canto

2018

Paul Weitz

Julianne Moore, Ken Watanabe, Christopher Lambert, Sebastian Koch ...

4.9

338

Drama A famous opera singer is held hostage in South America by a guerrilla rebel group after performing at a Japanese businessman’s lavish birthday party. Unexpected bonds are forged in the standoff that ensues... Based on the best-selling novel.

	Media	Author	Review
		Stephen Farber The Hollywood Reporter	"A superb, multicultural cast — headed by Oscar winner Julianne Moore — brings the fascinating story to life (...) Many small human moments linger in the memory."
		John Anderson The Wall Street Journal	"The nuance of literature is lost to Mr. Weitz, who has to find his elusive enchantment elsewhere—in the performances of his stars, and in the nervous tension of a hostage-taking."
		Leah Greenblatt Entertainment Weekly	"The strongest moments in 'Bel Canto' are the small ones (...) Mostly, it’s a study in class acting: Moore’s Coss is a diva onstage and off"
		Guy Lodge Variety	"This belated adaptation remains a blandly perfumed, low-peril affair."
		Matt Fagerholm rogerebert.com	"What makes every iteration of 'Bel Canto' (...) such a richly rewarding journey is the gradual evolution of its characters (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 4)"
		Jeannette Catsoulis The New York Times	"Ms. Moore makes a credible diva, but neither the foregrounded love affair nor its lower-class counterpart (...) has the heft to resonate."
		William Bibbiani The Wrap	"It makes almost no impression whatsoever (...) The film’s failure to modulate its tone, its intensity and its messaging makes it a dreary, one-note production."
		Jude Dry IndieWire	"'Bel Canto' strikes a delicate balance between forbidden romance and hostage thriller, eschewing clichés to reveal a tender love story"
		Tim Robey Telegraph	"[It] falls flat (...) Moore seems quite stranded, given little chance to animate her character except as an unenviable technical exercise (…) Rating: ★★ (out of 5)"
		Cath Clarke The Guardian	"If the book is a work of elegant literary fiction, here we have the movie equivalent of a bumper airport paperback: always watchable and often soapy (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"

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