50
Ham-fisted dialogue and clichéd characterizations trump genuine chemistry in The Other Son, a contrived Franco-Israeli drama about two 18-year-olds, an Israeli and a Palestinian, accidentally switched at birth.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
75
Sentimental? Certainly, but in a part of the world where hope and optimism haven't shown their faces in a long time, it's hard not to feel carried along by the generously conciliatory spirit that warms The Other Son, as it did "The Band's Visit." Movies have rarely been known to change the world, but you never know.
60
Wall Street Journal by Joe Morgenstern
Ms. Levy's film gets to say affecting things about the mysteries of identity, and the ironies of ancient enmity. If we can assume, from the nature of the premise, that Joseph and Yacine will soon accept their situation and become friends, we can also assume, from the course of history, that the Israelis and Palestinians will continue to resist doing the same.
58
The Other Son's setup is too contrived, carried along by conversations that are either confrontational or artificially elusive.
88
Chicago Sun-Times by Roger Ebert
When the mistake is discovered, how do the families react? What disturbs them more: that their son has been raised as an enemy or that he has been raised in another religion? That's where The Other Son gets complicated.
75
Philadelphia Inquirer by Steven Rea
A parablelike melodrama with obvious symbolic meaning.
75
It's done persuasively enough that you wonder how you'd feel under similar circumstances.