70
Quietly intelligent and respectable.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
50
The movie is so discreet and respectful that, outside the classroom, within whose walls the glory of French literature and language triumph, it never quite comes to life. [16 April 2012, p. 86]
70
New York Magazine (Vulture) by David Edelstein
Ineffably sad - yet there's almost no loitering. The film is crisp, evenly paced, its colors bright, as sharp as the winter cold.
60
Fellag does for the film what his Lazhar does for the pupils: He's soothing and entrancingly enigmatic enough to keep us fixed to our seats.
100
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) by Jennie Punter
It's an exquisite, humanistic and subtly topical work of cinema art that manages to keep the intimate, revelatory sensibility of a one-man play intact while fleshing out the characters and creating a very realistic and richly detailed school community.
63
Slant Magazine by Jesse Cataldo
There's great potential for the kind of issues that are taken on, but nothing is resolved, and the biggest questions, of guilt and shame, the gulf of understanding between the first world and the third, remain unengaged.
80
Boxoffice Magazine by Pete Hammond
The kids, especially Néron and Nélisse are irresistible and supporting players are well-cast. Human dramas like Monsieur Lazhar are a rare breed these days and this exceptional example is one to be cherished.
88
Miami Herald by Rene Rodriguez
Monsieur Lazhar doesn't send you home depressed. Instead, the film leaves you hopeful, and even exhilarated, that even the most painful wounds can sometimes heal.
There are no flashy, over-done moments in "Monsieur Lazhar"--it is a sublimely human drama, more like a character study than a feature film. The simplicity of the film makes it all the more heart-breakingly beautiful. Although the ending is melancholy and even somewhat unresolved (much like our own lives), the viewer feels more hope than sadness as the credits roll.