Caramel.

"Beauty-parlor romantic comedy has been done to death and beyond, but what Caramel lacks in originality is redeemed by its exuberant sensuality and astute commentary on the way Lebanese women sit uncomfortably in the crosshairs of their country's clash between patriarchal tradition and Westernized modernity," writes Ella Taylor in the Voice.

"It's a reassuring and delicious film, but in no sense an adventurous one," writes Salon's Andrew O'Hehir. "Still, there's no doubt that [writer-director-star Nadine] Labaki gets extra credit for making a film in an Arab country that casually depicts friendship between Muslims and Christians, never mentions violence or political strife, and in its own gentle fashion sidles up against social issues that remain sensitive in that part of the world."

Updated through 2/2.

For Filmmaker, Nick Dawson talks with Labaki "about watching Dallas and Dynasty while the bombs fell, using an entire cast of non-actors, and believing she was Disney's Snow White."

More interviews with Labaki: Annsley Chapman (Vulture) and Dan Persons (IFC News).

Earlier: Joanne Nucho in Reverse Shot.

Update, 1/31: "For large portions of the story, it's like Sex and the City with prettier scenery," writes Eric Kohn in the New York Press. "That's not a detriment to Labaki's intentions: She slightly alters a familiar genre to take into account the local setting, but these abnormalities quickly retreat behind the shield of homely conventions."

Updates, 2/1: "Caramel has an optimism born not of dreamy romanticism but of resilience and a degree of hard-headedness," writes AO Scott in the New York Times. "Life for these women is not easy or especially fair, and each of them faces moments of humiliation, loneliness and potential heartbreak. But in the best melodramatic tradition, their toughness, good humor and loyalty see them through. Those qualities, and Ms Labaki's evident affection for the battered panache of her native city, make Caramel hard to resist."

"From the regular power outages to the intrusive military checkpoints and variously deep-stitched religious divides, Labaki deftly and often humorously infuses her story of beauty, friendship, longing and constraint with that so painfully epitomized in the plight of her native Lebanon," writes Michelle Orange at the Reeler. Plus, a talk with Labaki.

"Caramel introduces lots of conflicts and subplots without resolving any of them, which is much of its meandering, laidback appeal," writes Nathan Rabin at the AV Club. "At its best, Caramel boasts a quietly engaging slice-of-slice casualness."

"It is sweet but not saccharine, an intimate film that doesn't stint on the desperation and anxiety that go along with the search for love," writes Kenneth Turan in the Los Angeles Times.

"Caramel (the title derives from the name of the preparation used for leg-waxing in the salon) testifies to the power of American popular culture at least briefly to override the endless traumas of our ever-more-violent political lives," writes Richard Schickel in Time.

Update, 2/2: "As expected, these women laugh and cry and talk about love; but while formulaic in structure, the film is actually quite lovely," writes Marcy Dermansky.

Posted by dwhudson at January 30, 2008 3:19 PM