If this Semitic “Strictly Ballroom” and its campy, colorful characters (including a hummus baron!) don’t win you over, you may want to check your pulse.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
The fun comes not from the pink neon frosting, but from seeing how Fox and co-writer Eli Bijaoui use it to decorate their familiar themes of authenticity, kitsch, and what it means to have progressive pride within a changing country.
The New York Times by Andy Webster
This candy-coated confection is so irresistible that you’re captivated by its sentiment even as you acknowledge its manipulations.
Slant Magazine by Clayton Dillard
Eytan Fox opts for a thoroughly hollow rumination on pop-culture mechanics as they pertain to young, aspiring professionals.
The Hollywood Reporter by Frank Scheck
While it offers some mildly frothy diversions, the Pedro Almodovar-styled Cupcakes lacks the cinematic nutrition to overcome its empty calories.
Momentarily abandoning the strain of imagining liberation within a realistically perceived Israel, Fox here settles for the ephemeral glow of an exuberant block party.
Village Voice by Serena Donadoni
This musical comedy is sugary and sincere.
Los Angeles Times by Sheri Linden
Though the comic confection's clunky moments keep it from achieving soufflé delicacy, its bright zingers and seamless fantasy sequences amp the playfulness, and the mostly unforced performances complement the production's cartoonish exuberance.
If Pedro Almodóvar was hired to direct another "Sex and the City" film, it might end up like Cupcakes. The sort of movie that adjectives like frothy and bubbly were invented for.