87
Metascore
26 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100Boston GlobeWesley MorrisBoston GlobeWesley MorrisNothing momentous happens here, but Philibert has a magical sense of how to find the simple poetry lurking in the universal routine of being a kid. A lot of the film's lyricism is extracurricular.
- 90VarietyLisa NesselsonVarietyLisa NesselsonAny negative stereotypes viewers might harbor about education in rural communities are sent packing by this magnificently lensed and cumulatively touching account from documaker Nicolas Philibert.
- 90The New RepublicStanley KauffmannThe New RepublicStanley Kauffmann"You'll have to be patient." Philibert said, "That's the point." This is the film's success: its patience, which in a way mirrors the teacher's.
- 88New York PostMegan LehmannNew York PostMegan LehmannOne of the year's most engaging films.
- 88New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanNew York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanExhibiting the same sort of patience as his sensible hero, Philibert has created an extraordinarily humane portrait of a partnership between one adult and his very fortunate charges.
- 80New York Magazine (Vulture)Peter RainerNew York Magazine (Vulture)Peter RainerThe emotional honesty of this movie rescues it from sentimentality. To Be and to Have is about more than a dedicated teacher and his pupils; it’s about how difficult and exhilarating it is to grow into an adult.
- 80Village VoiceMichael AtkinsonVillage VoiceMichael AtkinsonFull of observed life, the movie is also a bit of a vacuum, and once we register our admiration for Lopez, we can hardly help contemplating the cold equations of the students' futures, their uneducated families, and the rapturously desolate farmland around them.
- 80The New York TimesDana StevensThe New York TimesDana StevensThe interest of To Be and to Have, though, is not sociological: it is not really about the French educational system, rural life or even the way children learn. It is, rather, the portrait of an artist, a man whose work combines discipline and inspiration and unfolds mysteriously and imperceptibly.
- 80The New YorkerDavid DenbyThe New YorkerDavid DenbyA deeply satisfying aesthetic and pedagogic experience--though Americans may find themselves wondering how such terrific children can grow into such irritating adults.