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FAREWELL (L'AFFAIRE FAREWELL)Movie Reviews
French language thriller set in the 1980s about a disgruntled KGB agent whose relationship to the French and Americans undermined and subsequently helped topple the Russian regime. Cast:Guillaume Canet, Emir Kusturica, Fred Ward, Willem DafoeDirector:Christian CarionRelease Date:July 23, 2010DVD Release:February 8, 2011From:NeoClassics FilmsLength:1 hr 53 min
FEBRUARY 8, 2011
Farewell (L'affaire farewell), Very Good Reviews Key Cities
Farewell (L'affaire farewell) played in key cities to very good reviews. • David Denby wrote in the New Yorker, "...mesmerizing... stunningly intelligent; the concluding passages, in which the game abruptly ends for both men, are frightening and, finally, very moving." • And David P. Hines called the film in the Dallas Morning News, "...a cool, understated French thriller..." More Reviews Below...
Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: EXCELLENT(cg) "There's 'Bourne,' there's 'Salt,' and there's 'Farewell'... a smart, low-key, melancholy dramatization based on a little-known real moment in espionage, circa 1981..."(See all of Lisa Schwarzbaum's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 69 words, 07/30/10
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NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES/CHICAGO/TORONTO (10 Reviews)
Stephen Holden, New York Times: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...staking out of a (sometimes shaky) middle ground between serious comedy and high-tech fantasy is a considerable accomplishment..."(See all of Stephen Holden's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 910 words, 07/23/10
Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...scenes of meetings between Presidents Reagan (Fred Ward) and Mitterrand seem hollow and naive. Kusturica and Canet are strong, though, as is Dafoe..."(See all of Joe Neumaier's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 148 words, 07/23/10
Glenn Whipp, Los Angeles Times: EXCELLENT "Canet and Kusturica, the leads, give 'Farewell' a humanity that also speaks to the high stakes at hand. They're fantastic."(See all of Glenn Whipp's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 268 words, 07/23/10
V.A. Musetto, New York Post: VERY GOOD(cg) "...there couldn't be a more appropriate time to open 'Farewell,' a drama, the opening credits inform, 'based on events that led to the downfall of the Soviet empire.' "(See all of V.A. Musetto's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 240 words, 07/23/10
Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...fascinating material based on a little-known case of a Soviet intelligence agent named Vladimir Vetrov... The performances are excellent."(See all of Michael Phillips's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 464 words, 07/30/10
Rafer Guzman, New York Newsday: VERY GOOD(cg) "...sometimes breaks its own spell (Fred Ward shows up as Ronald Reagan), but Kusturica always reweaves it with his aching, world-weary performance."(See all of Rafer Guzman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 236 words, 07/30/10
David Edelstein, New York Magazine: EXCELLENT "In the great cast, Fred Ward plays Reagan as not just engaged but swaggering and overexcitable -- a fun revisionist performance. But this is Emir Kusturica's movie."(See all of David Edelstein's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 314 words, 07/26/10
Jim Emerson, Chicago Sun-Times: OUTSTANDING(cg) "Carion has an eye for unusual, atmospheric touches -- the kinds of striking little things you notice in the world and think: 'Somebody should put that in a movie'..."(See all of Jim Emerson's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 681 words, 07/29/10
Nick Pinkerton, Village Voice/LA Weekly: GOOD "A homely bit of international Cold War cloak-and-dagger, starring badly dressed bureaucrats instead of chic spies... based on a vital early-'80s espionage break..."(See all of Nick Pinkerton's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 246 words, 07/21/10
KEY CITIES (14 Reviews)
Rachel Saslow, Washington Post: POOR(cg) "...the intricate historical events still suffocate the film.... those without deep knowledge of Cold War history will probably regret this ticket."(See all of Rachel Saslow's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 355 words, 07/30/10
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...fascinating not only for its glimpse of the machinations of government espionage agencies in the Reagan era, but for the toll such subterfuge takes..."(See all of Steven Rea's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 346 words, 08/20/10
Mick LaSalle, Houston Chronicle/San Francisco Chronicle: OUTSTANDING(cg) "More than most espionage movies, the film is about relationships, the men with each other, the men with their own disapproving wives, and governments with each other."(See all of Mick LaSalle's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 402 words, 08/20/10
Rob Nelson, Minneapolis Star-Tribune: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...has a highly regrettable habit of repeating itself over the course of two very long hours, but it certainly succeeds in making the political personal."(See all of Rob Nelson's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 203 words, 08/06/10
Richard Nilsen, Arizona Republic: OUTSTANDING(cg) "Exotic spies, fancy weapons and fancier women vs. moral complexity, bureaucratic drudgery and equivocal motivations.... 'Farewell' is in the second camp."(See all of Richard Nilsen's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 424 words, 10/08/10
Ty Burr, Boston Globe: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...it doesn't access the richer levels and themes of the film the publicity campaign obviously wants you to think of: 2006's 'The Lives of Others.' "(See all of Ty Burr's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 618 words, 08/06/10
Marc Mohan, Portland Oregonian: VERY GOOD(cg) "...it seems possible the story's significance is exaggerated... But this fascinating tale still deserves more than to be consigned, like the USSR, to the dustbin of history."(See all of Marc Mohan's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 247 words, 08/13/10
Steve Persall, St. Petersburg Times: VERY GOOD(cg) "...there are engrossing performances by Emir Kusturica and Guillaume Canet -- both acclaimed filmmakers in their own right... a solid telling of an obscure story..."(See all of Steve Persall's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 287 words, 08/26/10
Nick Pinkerton, Village Voice/LA Weekly: GOOD "A homely bit of international Cold War cloak-and-dagger, starring badly dressed bureaucrats instead of chic spies... based on a vital early-'80s espionage break..."(See all of Nick Pinkerton's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 246 words, 07/21/10
Peter Keough, Boston Phoenix: VERY GOOD(cg) "Somewhere between the shenanigans of Angelina Jolie in 'Salt' and the ineptitude of the Russian moles recently deported to Moscow..."(See all of Peter Keough's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 162 words, 08/05/10
Noel Murray, AV Club: GOOD(cg) "As a political thriller, Christian Carion's 'Farewell' is fairly feeble... [but] it's rich enough to mitigate some of its ineffectiveness as suspense."(See all of Noel Murray's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 382 words, 07/22/10
Bill Weber, Slant: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "Carion's chief asset in dramatizing this episode in the Soviet Union's decline is the performance of Kusturica, the Serbian filmmaking wunderkind of the '80s and '90s..."(See all of Bill Weber's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 471 words, 07/19/10
HIGHBROW PRESS (4 Reviews)
John Anderson, Wall Street Journal: GOOD "The source of all this information was a real-life KGB agent, Vladimir Vetrov, code named Farewell... his story gets a respectable retelling..."(See all of John Anderson's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 256 words, 07/23/10
Stephen Holden, New York Times: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...staking out of a (sometimes shaky) middle ground between serious comedy and high-tech fantasy is a considerable accomplishment..."(See all of Stephen Holden's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 910 words, 07/23/10
David Denby, New Yorker: OUTSTANDING "...mesmerizing... stunningly intelligent; the concluding passages, in which the game abruptly ends for both men, are frightening and, finally, very moving."(See all of David Denby's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 737 words, 07/26/10
Glenn Whipp, Los Angeles Times: EXCELLENT "Canet and Kusturica, the leads, give 'Farewell' a humanity that also speaks to the high stakes at hand. They're fantastic."(See all of Glenn Whipp's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 268 words, 07/23/10
MOVIE INDUSTRY (5 Reviews)
Todd McCarthy, Daily Variety: GOOD "...juicy, fascinating stuff... keeps things simmering on medium-high throughout, and the tension arguably could have been ratcheted up further in the final stretch..."(See all of Todd McCarthy's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 944 words, 09/14/09
Stephen Farber, Hollywood Reporter: GOOD "It's not easy to find a fresh slant on a Cold War spy story, but the French film 'Farewell' almost manages to reinvigorate the genre."(See all of Stephen Farber's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 523 words, 09/10/09
Glenn Whipp, Los Angeles Times: EXCELLENT "Canet and Kusturica, the leads, give 'Farewell' a humanity that also speaks to the high stakes at hand. They're fantastic."(See all of Glenn Whipp's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 268 words, 07/23/10
Stephen Holden, New York Times: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...staking out of a (sometimes shaky) middle ground between serious comedy and high-tech fantasy is a considerable accomplishment..."(See all of Stephen Holden's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 910 words, 07/23/10
John Anderson, Wall Street Journal: GOOD "The source of all this information was a real-life KGB agent, Vladimir Vetrov, code named Farewell... his story gets a respectable retelling..."(See all of John Anderson's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 256 words, 07/23/10
13.5 Percentage Points Average Difference Between Reviews (Norm is 18.4pp; <18.4pp = More Consistent; >18.4pp = More Mixed)
Farewell (L'affaire farewell)'s reviews are separated by an average 13.5 percentage points. The norm for this measure is 18.4 percentage points. Less than 18.4 indicates more consistent reviews; greater than 18.4 indicates more mixed reviews. In the chart below, each dot represents a review, with the dots at the top more positive than the dots at the bottom. From left to right, the dots represent reviews in big, bigger and biggest publications. Roll over each dot for more detail.
Farewell (L'affaire farewell) (32 reviews) Roll over dots for each review
Coverage:Farewell (L'affaire farewell)'s reviews cover 37.1% of potential readers (average is 67.9%). Volume:The film's reviews total 12,280 words involume (average is 20,194 words). Length:The film's reviews average 384 words in length (the norm is 517 words).
Reviews Broke 11.9 Hours After Release (Norm is 1.2 Release)
Farewell (L'affaire farewell)'s reviews on average broke 11.9 hours after opening. Norm for this measure is 1.2 hours before. The chart below shows reviews on opening day and the days before and after opening; the left side is earlier and the right side is later. The red bars extending above the horizontal mid-line represent more positive reviews, and the red bars extending below represent more negative reviews. The white space/red bar in the middle is Farewell (L'affaire farewell)'s opening day. Click on any bar for a list of the reviews for that day.
Farewell (L'affaire farewell) (32 reviews, click on bars for reviews)
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