[Merry Christmas] underlines all that unites us at a time when all seems to separate us.

| Apr 26, 2019

Unfolding slowly, then building in momentum like the hymns themselves, this entire sequence is tremendously affecting.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Dec 14, 2014

A vivid, quietly powerful recreation of a truly extraordinary moment in history: just not an overwhelmingly moving one.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 14, 2014

It isn't exactly All Quiet on the Western Front or Oh! What a Lovely War. What it lacks is proper finesse.

| Dec 14, 2014

It is such a wonderful story and I think it's a rather prosaic treatment that it's been given.

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | Dec 14, 2014

The horror of the war, and the startling dignity of these mud-spattered soldiers, will doubtless thaw stony hearts. But the drama is as conventional as a ham sandwich.

| Dec 14, 2014

You can't watch this film without thinking about modern wars and about how much easier it is to demonize a foe when language and customs are more at odds.

| Dec 14, 2014

It is strongly and competently told, and the poignancy of warriors stricken by the sound of Stille Nacht floating across the trenches still has the power to move.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 9, 2013

Some might castigate its unabashed sentimentality, but I found myself moved, especially when I recalled that this was supposedly the war to end all wars.

| Nov 27, 2007

It's a respectful, sobering tribute to the flickering of humanitarian spirit amid the darkest days of conflict and, as such, surely a Christmas film for the ages.

| Aug 3, 2006

[Carion] settles for making a tear-jerker, when it could have been -- and deserves to be -- so much more.

| Jul 1, 2006

Well-photographed and acted, Joyeux Nol suffers most from the inevitable comparison with its betters, such films as Paths of Glory or All Quiet on the Western Front.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jun 22, 2006

The movie isn't perfect -- Spielberg-slick, its power is sometimes dampened by melodrama that overstates its message -- but it is compelling and thought-provoking and topical as hell.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Apr 8, 2006

Its noble intentions do not negate its lumpy ordinariness.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Mar 31, 2006

A poignant and rousing carol for peace.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Mar 30, 2006

Lovely and moving.

Full Review | Original Score: B- | Mar 30, 2006

Ultimately it fades away quickly from memory; a sad fate for a good story.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Mar 24, 2006

If only the other two thirds book ending these moments weren't so regrettably forgettable.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Mar 24, 2006

The film ends with a moving and surprisingly sophisticated meditation on the definition of moral duty.

| Mar 23, 2006

The story's factual weight compensates for the film's schmaltzy telling. We might grimace at some of the movie's machinations, but it's hard not to be moved by the humanity it depicts.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Mar 23, 2006