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05/14/09
Linha de passe
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Reviews Counted:17
Fresh:12
Rotten:5
Average Rating:6.2/10
Consensus: A gritty portrayal of modern day family life in Sao Paulo , with vividly drawn characters and an uncompromising resolution.
Genre: Foreign Films
US Box Office: $0
Synopsis: In this Brazilian drama from directors Walter Salles and Daniela Thomas (FOREIGN LAND), four brothers living in Sao Paolo struggle to move beyond the troubled destiny in store for them. LINHA DE... [More]
Reviews for Linha de passe
1 - 17 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
This story of four brothers in São Paulo has a lively neorealist vibe that's utterly involving. And the characters are so vividly drawn by the filmmakers and cast that their mixture of hope and hopelessness really gets under our skin.
09/19/08
It is as authentic as Salles and Thomas can make it even if it sometimes seems that, apart from the football angle, we have seen it all before. But if you haven’t, then it’s a real eye-opener.
09/19/08
The curse of modern Brazilian cinema, it increasingly seems, is that every film reminds us of City of God while none measures up to it.
09/19/08
At the end of the day there just isn’t enough Brazilian flair to support a drawn-out encounter.
09/19/08
When a film strives this hard to be non-controversial and fashionably non-judgmental, it takes a lot of the sting out of its social comment. It just ends up as defeatist, liberal hand-wringing.
09/19/08
Pleasingly, there are no cosy resolutions here; it’s up to the viewer to decide each character’s fate. Want a happy ending? Work for it.
09/19/08
Where most pictures about families end with huggy closure, this one ends in splinters, in pain, and with five different kinds of sudden, desperate hope.
09/19/08
Heartfelt, well acted and confidently shot. But it is frustrating, because of a creeping reliance on favela-drama mannerisms and a culpable failure to think up an ending.
09/19/08
Top CriticUltimately, there is an optimism to the film, albeit one that is tempered by the poignancy of lives shadowed by São Paulo’s harsh indifference.
09/19/08
Top CriticA moving tale of working-class travails in modern Brazil that puts the carnage of City Of God and its ilk in sharp relief.
09/19/08
Salles and Thomas’s movie contains some extraordinary moments and its fine editing injects a dynamic cross-cutting energy.
09/19/08
Expertly crafted, you leave the cinema with São Paulo’s dirt under your fingernails.
09/19/08
Top CriticBrazil-based drama directed by Walter Salles that went down well at Cannes this year. Of course, women hardly exist in this macho world.
09/18/08
Salles and Thomas tritely conflate evangelism, soccer and crime as hollow alternatives for the characters, who end up reduced to static sacrificial lambs just so the filmmakers can state, restate and underline their suffering-poor points.
09/06/08
Sem qualquer indício de pieguice ou maniqueísmo, não apenas comove profundamente como ainda nos leva a torcer desesperadamente por um final feliz para os complexos indivíduos aos quais nos apresenta.
09/05/08
Linha de Passe is a noble effort, sure to find favor with audiences predisposed to its message, but unenlightening for those who have seen such material handled with more skill.
08/11/08
1 - 17 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
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