91% Footnote

All Critics (79) | Top Critics (29) | Fresh (72) | Rotten (7)

"Footnote" deals with ambition, isolation, the dangers of too much success and the inevitable gap between generations.

Footnote requires little knowledge of Judaism and its texts. Rather, it's about the complications of love, guilt, and rage.

Israeli writer-director Joseph Cedar's tale of two Talmudic scholars set in present-day Jerusalem, while not exactly side-splitting, is quietly riotous. And, yes, the guffaws are bittersweet.

A droll, deadpan satire of the professional contempt and personal rancor that breeds in any narrow field.

Footnote is a film about the nature of truth, about sacrifice, hubris, hypocrisy. It's nothing short of brilliant.

It speaks to anyone who's been on either end of a grudge or family antagonism. And it saves its best for those who have witnessed clusters of the best and brightest descend to the level of grade school kids on the playground.

The Coen Brothers must be ticked that they didn't think of the idea first.

...a drama about the internecine skirmishes - actual and metaphoric - fought between fathers and sons that might fairly be called Shakespearean.

An intriguing and demanding film despite its flaws.

The premise enables Cedar to spoof academic infighting and professorial egomania even as he dissects a love-hate blood connection that has been fraught with tension and mistrust ever since Abraham was willing to slay Isaac.

Cedar is mostly interested in the father-son dynamics, and he cast excellent actors.

While neither father or son are likeable characters, Cedar still manages to make us care about what will happen to their tumultuous relationship. The end result is a gratifying treat.

Footnote has moments of humor and moments of pathos, but they often seem to be coming from different movies.

A dense and complex piece of filmmaking, made manageable through the warm and totally compelling performances of the two lead actors.

"Footnote" has one of the most satisfying scenes I've seen in years.

A funny, sorrowful, sharp-witted look at ambition, ego, and fathers and sons.

... a bitter and mordant comedy that evokes winces instead of laughs ...

Light yet heavy comedy/drama no footnote in Israeli cinema

Ultimately it's about how fathers and sons manage the added complexity in their relationship of professional rivalry - and the potential for deep wounds to be inflicted by one upon the other

It's an interesting premise with an equally interesting structure and the use of music, injecting high drama alongside a curious cat and mouse curiosity, gives the film a unique slant

This is a film that skims the surface layer of politesse from human interactions and reveals us as the blustering bundles of ego that we all are.

Cedar mines dark humor from the humiliations of identity checks and pecking orders.

...the movie works best [when it's] sending up pompous bureaucrats, petty university politics and personal jealousies.

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