Do you want to see ‘Ciao’?

Add to Netflix

Ciao (2007)

tomatometer

All Critics
Top Critics

Average Rating: 4.9/10
Reviews Counted: 12
Fresh: 3 | Rotten: 9

No consensus yet.

Average Rating: 5.5/10
Critic Reviews: 8
Fresh: 3 | Rotten: 5

No consensus yet.

audience

liked it
Average Rating: 3.3/5
User Ratings: 758

My Rating

Added to your Facebook Timeline. — undo

Movie Info

Two men meet and fall in love under the least joyous of circumstances in this low-key drama from writer and director Yen Tan. Jeff (Adam Neal Smith) has been close friends with Mark most of his life, so when Mark unexpectedly dies, Jeff volunteers to clear out Mark's apartment and tie up the loose ends of his personal business. While examining Mark's correspondence, Jeff learns that he had been exchanging flirtatious e-mails for some time with Andrea (Alessandro Calza), an Internet designer from

R, 1 hr. 27 min.

Drama, Gay & Lesbian

Directed By: Yen Tan

Written By: Alessandro Calza, Yen Tan

In Theaters: Dec 5, 2008 Limited

On DVD: Mar 23, 2010

Regent Releasing/here! Films

Ciao Trailer & Photos

More Photos (25)

Cast

Critic Reviews for Ciao

All Critics (13) | Top Critics (8) | Fresh (3) | Rotten (9)

In Yen Tan's glacially paced movie (every shot is relentlessly symmetrical), the actors are squares in graph-paper compositions.

January 30, 2009 Full Review Source: Philadelphia Inquirer

| Comment

Carrie Rickey

Philadelphia Inquirer

Top Critic

Yen Tan's Ciao is a revelation, a minimalist work of maximum effect. It is determinedly understated and consistently expressive, beautifully composed yet never studied.

December 29, 2008 Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times

| Comment

Kevin Thomas

Los Angeles Times

Top Critic

It's made on the smallest of budgets and features awkward if sincere performances, yet Yen Tan's film still manages to strike a series of plangent emotional truths about speaking one's heart and moving on.

December 19, 2008 Full Review Source: Boston Globe

| Comment

Ty Burr

Boston Globe

Top Critic

Ciao moves at a snail's pace. It feels long even at its abbreviated length.

December 12, 2008 Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle

| Comment

Ruthe Stein

San Francisco Chronicle

Top Critic

The story is so minimal that it almost doesn't exist.

December 5, 2008 Full Review Source: New York Post

| Comment

V.A. Musetto

New York Post

Top Critic

Deeply sincere and exceedingly slow even at 87 minutes, Ciao involves two strangers who become acquaintances after the death of a mutual friend.

December 5, 2008 Full Review Source: New York Times

| Comment

Manohla Dargis

New York Times

Top Critic

In theory, there's no reason a movie shouldn't endeavor to be somber and tentatively hopeful at the same time. In practice, unfortunately, Ciao is depressing and ploddingly elegiac.

December 5, 2008 Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine

| Comment

John P. McCarthy

Boxoffice Magazine

The plotline of 'Ciao' is trite -- and the filmmaking itself drags.

December 4, 2008 Full Review Source: ReelTalk Movie Reviews

| Comment

Donald J. Levit

ReelTalk Movie Reviews

It's hard to shake the feeling that the onscreen words stick too close to the facts: The dialogue drags, making the viewer like an invisible third wheel at a nervous, slightly dull first date.

December 3, 2008 Full Review Source: Time Out New York

| Comment

Anna King

Time Out New York

The ever-static camera undercuts the poignantly understated performances with the egotism of a futon ad photographer who fancies Ozu.

November 30, 2008 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine

| Comment

Joseph Jon Lanthier

Slant Magazine

More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Ciao

View All

A little overly artsy and not so interesting. I was disappointed.

December 5, 2008

Sunil Jawahir

Super Reviewer

Tonights movie...the critics were harsh on it for moving slow, but i thought it was entirely appropriate for the pace given the gravity of the plot...tragically losing your best friend and unrequited love, but having to move on. I feel better for watching it.

May 14, 2011