Wall Street Journal by Joe Morgenstern

One of the many stylistic distinctions of this outwardly modest production is the complex voice that the filmmaker has found for his young hero.

Chicago Tribune by John Petrakis

Valentin is cut from the Woody Allen school of movie kids. With oversized black glasses and small-size suits, he is the total know-it-all package, right down to his insightful voice-over.

Chicago Sun-Times by Roger Ebert

The film is warm and intriguing, and he (Valentin) is the engine that pulls us through it. We care about what happens to him; high praise.

San Francisco Chronicle by Carla Meyer

Can be enjoyed if you don't mind a little manipulation.

Miami Herald by René Rodríguez

Never becomes cloying, because although Agresti does not lose sight of the great sadness at the center of his tale, he resists the temptation to overplay its bigger moments.

The Hollywood Reporter by Sheri Linden

With charm to spare, Valentin fuses nostalgia and humor in an episodic story whose ultimate focus is the birth of a writer.

Washington Post by Ann Hornaday

Quietly, with pathos and tinges of melancholy humor, Valentin pays homage to the heroism of creating your own world when the one that's on offer breaks your heart.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer by William Arnold

The film is uniformly well cast, directed (by Alejandro Agresti, who also plays Valentin's father) with a certain flair and a good eye for the nuances of Buenos Aires. I found it light, agreeably short (86 minutes) and mostly quite enjoyable.

Austin Chronicle by Marc Savlov

The character of Valentin is immediately recognizable to anyone who's gone to more than 20 films in their lives -- charming, cuddly, hellbent on making his world tolerable -- but to his credit both Noya and Agresti don't overplay their hand.

ReelViews by James Berardinelli

As a whole, Valentin is a moderately entertaining motion picture, but the lack of a satisfying sense of closure dims its appeal.

Chicago Reader by J.R. Jones

Agresti has more on his mind than tugging at heartstrings.

Entertainment Weekly by Lisa Schwarzbaum

Agresti fattens us up with the kind of kid's-eye-view tragi-comic adventures that regularly supply empty calories in artificially sweetened foreign-language imports.

Village Voice

Argentinean director Alejandro Agresti's own specs are rose-colored. This loosely autobiographical tale feels inorganically upbeat, with all potentially upsetting material glossed over or truncated.

Variety by Deborah Young

The choice to have Valentin narrate the tale and make philosophical observations beyond his years becomes irritating at times; ditto the cartoon humor.

The New York Times by Dave Kehr

The film feels authentic only during the scenes between Valentín and his selfish, angry father.

L.A. Weekly by Scott Foundas

It's not that Noya is bad as kid actors go, but a pair of dewy, crossed eyes and a beyond-his-years melancholy do not an entire movie make.

The A.V. Club by Keith Phipps

It takes mere seconds for every charming moment to go from "Ahhh..." to "Aarrggh!"