Central StationMovie Reviews

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Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 100
    San Francisco Chronicle | Edward Guthmann

    Fernanda Montenegro gives a landmark performance. Read full review

  • 100
    New York Daily News | Jami Bernard

    Normally the sound in movie theaters is of popcorn crunching. But the sound at theaters where Central Station is showing is of hearts breaking. Read full review

  • 91
    Entertainment Weekly | Owen Gleiberman

    A richly tender and moving experience. Read full review

  • 90
    Washington Post | Rita Kempley

    Profoundly affecting. Read full review

  • 90
    Los Angeles Times | Kevin Thomas

    For Fernanda Montenegro, who bears more than a passing resemblance to Italy's late Giulietta Masina (Federico Fellini's wife and frequent star) in appearance and talent, "Central Station" is a personal triumph and a rich cinematic experience. Read full review

  • 80
    The New York Times | Elvis Mitchell

    There's plenty of room for sentimentality here, but the wonder of Salles' film is all in the telling. Read full review

  • 80
    Washington Post | Michael O'Sullivan

    A touching and unusual road movie-cum-buddy film. Read full review

  • 80
    Variety | Todd McCarthy

    Montenegro carries the film su-perbly with her portrait of gritty strength being worn down to a state of tattered vulnerability, while newcomer de Oliveira, a shoeshine boy who won the role over 1,500 other aspirants, is engagingly natural and happily doesn't beg for viewer sympathy. Read full review

  • 78
    Austin Chronicle | Marjorie Baumgarten

    The story is much less about its resolution than the experience along the way. At its best, Central Station is a movie of small textures and fleeting moments, the intangibles that pass between people. Read full review

  • 75
    Chicago Sun-Times | Roger Ebert

    The movie's success rests largely on the shoulders of Fernanda Montenegro, an actress who successfully defeats any temptation to allow sentimentality to wreck her relationship with the child. Read full review

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