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Sweet Bean's deliberate pace demands patience, but the satisfying simplicity of its story -- and Kirin Kiki's absorbing performance -- yield an array of riches well worth the wait.
All Critics (55) | Top Critics (14) | Fresh (46) | Rotten (9)
No pretension or faux-poeticism - just a well-made domestic drama. Aug 5, 2016 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…
No pretension or faux-poeticism - just a well-made domestic drama.
David Jenkins
If it is possible to be at once clear-eyed and sentimental, Kawase achieves that in this heartbreakingly beautiful film. Apr 27, 2016 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…
If it is possible to be at once clear-eyed and sentimental, Kawase achieves that in this heartbreakingly beautiful film.
Paul Byrnes
Its sentimentality is tempered by the elegant restraint of the fine lead performances. Apr 8, 2016 | Full Review…
Its sentimentality is tempered by the elegant restraint of the fine lead performances.
Sheri Linden
Ms. Kawase's sweet, slow film -- very slow, I'm obliged to say -- becomes a meditation on solitary lives lived at the margins of society; on old age, and on the urgency of telling our stories, which may sometimes include recipes. Apr 7, 2016 | Full Review…
Ms. Kawase's sweet, slow film -- very slow, I'm obliged to say -- becomes a meditation on solitary lives lived at the margins of society; on old age, and on the urgency of telling our stories, which may sometimes include recipes.
Joe Morgenstern
Ultimately Kawase is more interested in charting emotional and sensory landscapes than in thinking through any narrative thread, yet there's something to be said for the movie's sincerity and simple beauty. Apr 7, 2016 | Full Review…
Ultimately Kawase is more interested in charting emotional and sensory landscapes than in thinking through any narrative thread, yet there's something to be said for the movie's sincerity and simple beauty.
Angelica Jade Bastién
Kawase handles the material delicately and skillfully, and Kirin - a one-time ingenue actress whose first important film was in one of the early "Tora-san" movies - hits all the right notes. Apr 7, 2016 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review…
Kawase handles the material delicately and skillfully, and Kirin - a one-time ingenue actress whose first important film was in one of the early "Tora-san" movies - hits all the right notes.
G. Allen Johnson
Although "Sweet Bean" does not succeed fully in examining the issues it presents, it is, nevertheless, a film of extreme beauty, which will definitely entice the audience senses, and particularly the appetite. Apr 6, 2019 | Full Review…
Although "Sweet Bean" does not succeed fully in examining the issues it presents, it is, nevertheless, a film of extreme beauty, which will definitely entice the audience senses, and particularly the appetite.
Panos Kotzathanasis
Sweet Bean is brimming with humanity, featuring characters that aren't normally seen onscreen. Mar 28, 2019 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…
Sweet Bean is brimming with humanity, featuring characters that aren't normally seen onscreen.
Cathy Brennan
Soft, gentle, and kind ... until it knocks you down on the ground and guts you like a fish. Despite what some may say, "Sweet Bean" is far from saccharine schlock. Oct 23, 2018 | Full Review…
Soft, gentle, and kind ... until it knocks you down on the ground and guts you like a fish. Despite what some may say, "Sweet Bean" is far from saccharine schlock.
Lindsay Pugh
In short, the essence of a director's cinema with its own label and universe, such as Naomi Kawase. [Full Review in Spanish] Aug 9, 2018 | Full Review…
In short, the essence of a director's cinema with its own label and universe, such as Naomi Kawase. [Full Review in Spanish]
Diego Batlle
In short, a warm film, with sensitive characters, without bombastic exclamations. [Full review in Spanish] Aug 9, 2018 | Full Review…
In short, a warm film, with sensitive characters, without bombastic exclamations. [Full review in Spanish]
Pablo O. Scholz
Kawase doesn't require firecrackers or tragedy to keep audiences mesmerized over a story that may seem to be light. [Full Review in Spanish] Aug 9, 2018 | Rating: 8/10 | Full Review…
Kawase doesn't require firecrackers or tragedy to keep audiences mesmerized over a story that may seem to be light. [Full Review in Spanish]
Juan Cruz Bergondi
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