Admirably low-key, yet [director Daniel] Burman's relaxed approach becomes a liability -- everything goes down smoothly but leaves one hungry for something more substantial.
Comment
12/29/06
Family Law (2006)
75
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:40
Fresh:30
Rotten:10
Average Rating:6.8/10
Consensus: What Family Law lacks in overt drama and conflict, it more than makes us with warm performances and smart, sharp dialogue.
Theatrical Release:Dec 6, 2006 Limited
Synopsis: Ariel Perelman is an attorney, like his father. And, because it is customary in Argentina to do so, the people refer to them both as Dr Perelman--regardless of whether they mean the father or the... [More]
Starring: Adriana Aizemberg, Damian Dreizik, Daniel Hendler, Jean Pierre Reguerraz
Director: Daniel Burman
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Reviews for Family Law
Family Law, from Argentina, is a very articulate comedy about fatherhood and marriage.
12/28/06
Top CriticA deceptively delightful meditation on the meaning of life.
12/22/06
Like Woody Allen, [director Daniel] Burman is a Jewish worrier who covers all present and future bases. He’s the most indispensable worrier we have.
12/22/06
Top CriticA deceptively small film, one whose observations may continue to detonate quietly in your mind after the lights have come up.
12/15/06
Like Lost Embrace, Family Law is funny and moving--a more mature, deceptively simple exploration of how to live.
12/13/06
[Director] Burman's decision to fill nearly every second of the film with Hendler's voice -- either in dialogue or in narration -- constrains Family Law to the point of view of an indecisive navel-gazer.
12/08/06
Writer-director Daniel Burman's (Lost Embrace) drily humorous, poker-faced comedic style is once again used in full play in this funny and touching film.
12/08/06
The film itself goes nowhere.
12/08/06
Director-writer Daniel Burman follows the two lawyers through their daily chores. Little of consequence happens, and the lack of drama will keep viewers from caring about the characters.
12/08/06
[Director Daniel] Burman tends to focus very tightly on the details of individual identity - religion, nationality, gender. It is all the more striking, then, that his restrained and unassuming films are wise enough to speak to every adult.
12/08/06
Rings true from the first bell.
12/07/06
An alternately charming and frustrating comic entertainment from Argentine writer-director Daniel Burman.
12/07/06
Top CriticThere's a bright cheer to Daniel Burman's film that skirts but narrowly avoids sentimentality.
12/07/06
Family Law is well acted, but if Antoine Doinel had been nearly this serene, Truffaut's career would have petered out after three films.
12/06/06
Top CriticAn engaging and humorous look at the father and son in all men. Very much worth the watching.
12/06/06
Low-key without being ho-hum, sexy in a brainy-but-humble way, Hendler is a how-to study in the charismatic power of unembellished screen acting.
12/05/06
Top CriticA relaxed and enjoyable film from Argentina about a young man who is in no hurry to move out from under the shadow shed by his father, a popular and successful lawyer.
12/03/06
There are nuggets of truths to discover, but where's the drama?
11/17/06
Top CriticAn introspective, if unfocused, look at the thoughts and moods of a Buenos Aires lawyer.
11/15/06
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