The editing errs on the side of longueurs, but likable people and the mise-en-scne draw you in. Somehow, even the artificiality feels heartwarming.

| Dec 30, 2015

Samba finds a much stronger rhythm when it stops contriving and simply shines a light on the joy and pain (and musical interludes) of lives lived in the margins.

| Original Score: B+ | Dec 30, 2015

Unfortunately, the material flounders from the broadly farcical to the bombastically melodramatic.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Aug 6, 2015

The filmmakers mix touching social realism, feel-good romantic comedy, and working-class farce into a patronizing ragout of flavors that never successfully blend together.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Aug 6, 2015

"Samba" tries to be too many things to too many people, although you can't say it doesn't have heart.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Aug 3, 2015

Gainsbourg and Sy play off each other wonderfully, emphasizing how these characters relate to each other as people; their scenes together feel emotionally honest even though one can barely imagine them happening in real life.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jul 30, 2015

"Samba" is loosely plotted and is at least 20 minutes too long. It seems ready to end half a dozen times before it finally does, with ironic payoffs for Samba and Alice that are too glib to be satisfying.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Jul 30, 2015

It's easy to enjoy what the cast does on screen; it's harder to buy the nutty mood swings and, as written, Gainsbourg's generic trainwreck of a character.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Jul 30, 2015

Sy is terrific in this. As Samba, he just seems like a really good guy - honest, hardworking, ethical and also emotionally strong. He's someone you would want in your country.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jul 30, 2015

One needs only to watch his performance in "Samba" to see Sy's old-school natural star power in its purest form. He's the perfect leading man.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jul 27, 2015

[It] becomes meandering and diffused, undermining the buckets of charm and goodwill it initially provides.

| Jul 23, 2015

Mr. Toledano and Mr. Nakache, who wrote the scattered screenplay, have a well-honed touch for comic beats and a feel for workaday details. That comes in handy when their points about French identity miss the mark ...

| Jul 23, 2015

As would-be crowd pleasers go, "Samba" tries to please multiple crowds with negligible success.

| Jul 23, 2015

This is a movie that thinks the deepest way to engage with the race and class issues it raises is by showing an enlightened white woman ... quoting and then dancing to Bob Marley.

| Original Score: D+ | Jul 23, 2015

There are just a few too many scenes, and they go on a tick too long. But, well, you could just as easily call that breathing room and fine direction.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 22, 2015

Worthy but ultimately not quite successful ...

| Jul 21, 2015

Even as Samba struggles to hold onto his identity, the film becomes entangled in an identity crisis of its own.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jul 19, 2015

A final reel false-step pushes things into the realms of overcooked melodrama, but for the most part it's entertainingly upbeat fare.

| Original Score: 3/5 | May 4, 2015

There are no weak links in the cast and Tahar Rahim is good value as a bubbly Brazilian, willing to package himself as an "exotic" to get on (his recreation of a famous Diet Coke ad, while cleaning windows, is particularly lovely).

| Original Score: 3/5 | May 1, 2015

Boring.

| Original Score: 2/5 | May 1, 2015