Caramel is sweet, but it's never sickly, and it never shies away from how these women have to work round what society has planned for them.

| Aug 23, 2018

It's one of the best films about women you're likely to see this year.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 26, 2008

Labaki, who co-wrote the film and also stars, maintains a knowing comic tone throughout.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Sep 19, 2008

Delightful.

| Apr 4, 2008

Labaki elicits expressive performances from a cast of amateurs, aided by Khalad Mouzanar's entrancing score and Yves Sehnaoui's lush cinematography.

| Mar 28, 2008

Perceptive and poignant, Caramel observes the love lives of the establishment's owner, her employees and their customers.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Mar 28, 2008

There's a pleasant, easygoing charm to Caramel, largely stemming from Labaki's rare determination to depict Beirut as something other than a war-torn, slowly recovering battleground.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Mar 27, 2008

Its chief focus is the bonding between women who rely on each for support, and who really appreciate a place where they can let down their hair.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Mar 7, 2008

Filmgoers expecting My Big Fat Lebanese Waxing are in for a bigger treat: Nadine Labaki, who wrote and directed the film, possesses an astute instinct for restraint that makes Caramel smarter ans more poignantthan the average chick flick.

| Feb 28, 2008

[Writer-Director] Labaki writes and directs with a sure hand for capturing universal truths.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Feb 22, 2008

As sugary as it may be, Caramel has a likeable edge to it, both in the natural performances of the mostly non-professional cast and the script's sardonic bluntness about social hypocrisies and the women's self-deception.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Feb 22, 2008

A delectable slice of life whose flavors are rarely available on these Western shores.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Feb 22, 2008

One of those small films that give a glimpse into a culture that's both foreign and familiar. It's filled with real-life touches and small insights and wonderfully human characters, and the whole thing feels as real as crossing the street.

| Original Score: B- | Feb 8, 2008

In a culture where female sexuality is problematic at best, how is a woman supposed to feed both body and heart? Through makeovers, support, and necessary lies, Caramel curtly answers.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Feb 8, 2008

In the Beirut beauty salon where most of Caramel takes place, women of various shapes, sizes, ages and backgrounds gather to bond and gossip.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Feb 4, 2008

Consider it 'Fried Green Falafel.'

| Original Score: B | Feb 3, 2008

Don't expect an elegant, fully realized production. Do expect, though, to be touched and surprised by a string of intimate, urgent vignettes.

Full Review | Feb 1, 2008

A sweeter and more believable version of Steel Magnolias, Middle Eastern style.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Feb 1, 2008

Just another good-looking, gently humorous, pleasantly romanticized little comedy, which ends with everyone a little wiser than they began.

| Feb 1, 2008

Well-made and modestly enjoyable seriocomedy.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Feb 1, 2008