Dear Reader: Update, Movie Review Intelligence will discontinue
publishing this website at the end of May (more...)
Search a Movie:
TOMBOY (2011)Movie Reviews
French language drama about a 10-year-old girl who pretends to be a boy when her family moves to a new neighborhood. Cast:Zoe Heran, Malonn Levana, Jeanne Disson, Sophie Cattani, Mathieu Demy, Yohan Vero, Noah Vero, Cheyenne Laine, Ryan BoubekriDirector:Céline SciammaRelease Date:November 16, 2011DVD Release:March 5, 2012From:Dada FilmsLength:1 hr. 24 min.
Tomboy (2011) played in key cities to excellent reviews. • Ty Burr wrote in the Boston Globe, "...as visually beautiful as its 10-year-old heroine is defiantly plain." • And Lisa Schwarzbaum wrote in Entertainment Weekly, "...a beautiful, matter-of-fact French drama about a young girl who wants to be a boy — and for one singular summer around her 10th birthday passes as one..." More Reviews Below...
Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...a beautiful, matter-of-fact French drama about a young girl who wants to be a boy -- and for one singular summer around her 10th birthday passes as one..."(See all of Lisa Schwarzbaum's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 87 words, 11/18/11
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: OUTSTANDING(cg) "If you think you're looking at a boy, you see one. If a girl, then that's what you see. The movie doesn't have a trace of gimmick to it; it's perfectly straightforward."(See all of Roger Ebert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 629 words, 01/27/12
we have an app for when you're out and about
get our iPhone app... or get our mobile web app...
movie review intelligence
NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES/CHICAGO/TORONTO (11 Reviews)
Manohla Dargis, New York Times: VERY GOOD "...art cinema... The story that emerges is programmatic and largely unsurprising, but these children give it messiness, joy and life."(See all of Manohla Dargis's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 609 words, 11/18/11
Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times: OUTSTANDING "Quiet and naturalistic in the best way... stands out as an especially affecting delicacy about the thrills and pitfalls of exploring who one is."(See all of Robert Abele's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 263 words, 11/25/11
Sara Stewart, New York Post: VERY GOOD(cg) "Director Céline Sciamma ('Water Lilies') draws wonderfully natural performances from her young cast, and doesn't shy away from an uncomfortable or pensive silence."(See all of Sara Stewart's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 211 words, 11/16/11
Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...simple, beautiful... This is a happy instance of a director paring her story down to the essentials without reducing its value.... A very good film."(See all of Michael Phillips's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 404 words, 01/27/12
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: OUTSTANDING(cg) "If you think you're looking at a boy, you see one. If a girl, then that's what you see. The movie doesn't have a trace of gimmick to it; it's perfectly straightforward."(See all of Roger Ebert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 629 words, 01/27/12
Melissa Anderson, Village Voice/LA Weekly: EXCELLENT "A sensitive portrait of childhood just before pubescence... explores the freedom, however brief, of being untethered to the highly rule-bound world of gender codes."(See all of Melissa Anderson's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 598 words, 11/16/11
Jennie Punter, Toronto Globe & Mail: VERY GOOD(cg) "It may be a slim story, but its gentle humour, natural rhythm and above all authentic performances make 'Tomboy' beautiful, intimate cinema."(See all of Jennie Punter's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 491 words, 12/02/11
Susan G. Cole, Toronto Now: EXCELLENT(cg) "The actors are sensational. Lévana's performance would be considered remarkably complex even if she weren't under the age of seven.... 'Tomboy' is terrific."(See all of Susan G. Cole's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 281 words, 12/01/11
KEY CITIES (9 Reviews)
John DeFore, Washington Post: VERY GOOD(cg) "As slender as its protagonist, with a disdain for extraneous plot mechanics... offers dramatically loaded situations but sees no reason to exploit them."(See all of John DeFore's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 423 words, 12/16/11
Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer: VERY GOOD(cg) "...an explicit movie... matter-of-factly presents Laure as a 'tween trying on the other gender as her younger sister might try on Dad's shoes."(See all of Carrie Rickey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 384 words, 12/09/11
Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star-Tribune: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "Laure/Mikael's battle for self-definition isn't the stuff of earthshaking drama, but it ends on a nice, modest note."(See all of Colin Covert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 152 words, 12/16/11
Ty Burr, Boston Globe: VERY GOOD(cg) "...as visually beautiful as its 10-year-old heroine is defiantly plain.... Director Céline Sciamma keeps the sensations immediate and the camera at child's-eye level."(See all of Ty Burr's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 620 words, 12/02/11
Jamie S. Rich, Portland Oregonian: EXCELLENT(cg) "Child actress Zoé Héran turns in a heartbreaking performance.... Sciamma presents her story without editorializing, making for a potent depiction of identity crisis."(See all of Jamie S. Rich's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 51 words, 04/19/13
Stan Hall, Portland Oregonian: VERY GOOD(cg) "Director Céline Sciamma strikes the right balance of sweetness and anguish, as well as showing a knack for working with child actors, in this touching tale..."(See all of Stan Hall's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 131 words, 09/30/11
Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: VERY GOOD(cg) "...as tightly constructed as a short story and as seemingly straightforward as a documentary... so rooted in the rich soil of sexual identity that it entangles us."(See all of Joe Williams's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 251 words, 01/27/12
ALTERNATIVE/INDIE PRESS (7 Reviews)
Melissa Anderson, Village Voice/LA Weekly: EXCELLENT "A sensitive portrait of childhood just before pubescence... explores the freedom, however brief, of being untethered to the highly rule-bound world of gender codes."(See all of Melissa Anderson's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 598 words, 11/16/11
Noel Murray, AV Club: EXCELLENT(cg) "Two feature films into her career, Céline Sciamma has proven unusually skilled at making short, plot-light movies about budding adolescents discovering themselves."(See all of Noel Murray's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 344 words, 11/17/11
Alison Willmore, Movieline: EXCELLENT(cg) "...the gender issues it delves into are more complex than any supposedly unfeminine preferences for sports and pants-wearing and other associations that linger..."(See all of Alison Willmore's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 920 words, 11/16/11
Diego Costa, Slant: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...one of those little big films whose simplicity and concision suggest the excess of meaning that language (cinematic or otherwise) could never account for."(See all of Diego Costa's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 752 words, 11/14/11
Susan G. Cole, Toronto Now: EXCELLENT(cg) "The actors are sensational. Lévana's performance would be considered remarkably complex even if she weren't under the age of seven.... 'Tomboy' is terrific."(See all of Susan G. Cole's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 281 words, 12/01/11
HIGHBROW PRESS (3 Reviews)
Manohla Dargis, New York Times: VERY GOOD "...art cinema... The story that emerges is programmatic and largely unsurprising, but these children give it messiness, joy and life."(See all of Manohla Dargis's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 609 words, 11/18/11
Scott Tobias, NPR: OUTSTANDING "...beautiful... Céline Sciamma gives 'Tomboy' the economy and exquisite proportion of a short story, but it's the performances that truly astonish."(See all of Scott Tobias's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 548 words, 11/16/11
Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times: OUTSTANDING "Quiet and naturalistic in the best way... stands out as an especially affecting delicacy about the thrills and pitfalls of exploring who one is."(See all of Robert Abele's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 263 words, 11/25/11
MOVIE INDUSTRY (4 Reviews)
Boyd Van Hoeij, Daily Variety: GOOD "A 10-year-old French girl with a Jean Seberg 'do decides to pass for a boy... explores the intricacy and many contradictions of budding female sexuality..."(See all of Boyd Van Hoeij's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 608 words, 02/11/11
Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times: OUTSTANDING "Quiet and naturalistic in the best way... stands out as an especially affecting delicacy about the thrills and pitfalls of exploring who one is."(See all of Robert Abele's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 263 words, 11/25/11
Manohla Dargis, New York Times: VERY GOOD "...art cinema... The story that emerges is programmatic and largely unsurprising, but these children give it messiness, joy and life."(See all of Manohla Dargis's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 609 words, 11/18/11
12.4 Percentage Points Average Difference Between Reviews (Norm is 18.4pp; <18.4pp = More Consistent; >18.4pp = More Mixed)
Tomboy (2011)'s reviews are separated by an average 12.4 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.
Tomboy (2011) (28 reviews) Roll over dots for each review
Coverage:Tomboy (2011)'s reviews cover 33.3% of potential readers (average is 67.9%). Volume:The film's reviews total 11,381 words involume (average is 20,172 words). Length:The film's reviews average 406 words in length (the norm is 517 words).
Reviews Broke 15 Days After Release (Norm is 1.2 Release)
Tomboy (2011)'s reviews on average broke 15 days 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 Tomboy (2011)'s opening day. Click on any bar for a list of the reviews for that day.
Tomboy (2011) (28 reviews, click on bars for reviews)
Mobile Web App version 1.2 shows a list of all current movies and review information. You can click through to the cast, director, synopsis, release date and rating on page two, plus individual reviews on page three. The information is updated on a live/real-time basis. You can also search our database of films. Designed for when you're on the move and want the latest info, this app will work on any mobile web browser. From your mobile device -- only from a mobile device -- open our Mobile Web App here...
