58
Metascore
27 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 80Village VoiceAlan ScherstuhlVillage VoiceAlan ScherstuhlFontaine handles the assignations with sympathetic shorthand — we see what Martin sees, but we see more, too, enough to understand that Gemma's dalliances are vital to her but not overwhelming. She has a handle on them.
- 75Movie NationRoger MooreMovie NationRoger MooreGemma Bovery manages a few surprises, even if you know the Flaubert novel Simmonds was sending up.
- 75ObserverRex ReedObserverRex ReedThe result is a somewhat reserved but sensual and gratifying movie that finds and polishes connections between literature and the screen while further catapulting the wonderful British actress Gemma Arterton several notches up the ladder toward international stardom.
- 75New York PostKyle SmithNew York PostKyle SmithLaden with witty ironies, the film by Anne Fontaine suggests men may not play exactly the roles they think they do in women’s lives.
- 67The A.V. ClubJesse HassengerThe A.V. ClubJesse HassengerIt’s minor, clever, and essential in the specialized field of Gemma Arterton studies.
- 63Slant MagazineDiego SemereneSlant MagazineDiego SemereneThe film dabbles in the French romantic-comedy tradition and simultaneously spoofs it, committing to neither.
- 50The PlaylistKevin JagernauthThe PlaylistKevin JagernauthGemma Bovery attempts to bring new heat to an old story, but mostly winds up cooling on the sill.
- 50The DissolveKeith PhippsThe DissolveKeith PhippsWhat almost rescues the film is Arterton’s performance.
- 50The New YorkerAnthony LaneThe New YorkerAnthony LaneThe only performer who seems at ease is Luchini, eternally hangdog, who in one juicy moment spies Gemma and her beau-to-be, at a market stall, and confesses not to envy but to “a strange kind of jubilation” at seeing Flaubert’s narrative lock into place.
- 40New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierNew York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierThe emotions are florid and the entanglements heated. But the film become preoccupied with, as Flaubert would say, the pettiness and mediocrity of daily life. Arterton, though, is plushly magnetic. She draws us in despite the overly lyrical atmosphere.