Another film that I haven't ranked till today but fell in love with years ago. This is the film that changed my opinion on foreign cinema, that it's not just for critics and everyone needs to be exposed to more than just English films. I live in the US so it will never happen, unfortunately.

The performances are excellent, the pivotal scene, though moronic, is executed extremely well, the film has powerful moments that might have floored me if I gave a toss about Bruno after his decision and a chase scene is subtly suspenseful. Still the profoundly stupid decision Bruno made coloured every moment after it. I just can't trust a script that makes a character perform an action that was so overwhelmingly, astonishingly contrived and fake, and the naturalism only served to emphasise it.

A fantastic story that grows more than the trailer suggests. The grim, hand-held cinematography captures the grittiness of the couple's situation well. The story flows evenly with a strong pace. I personally loved the lack of soundtrack and dialogue, truly demonstrating the range of the actor's talents.

A more expressive Pickpocket for a new generation.

Bruno, a small-time thief living in Belgium's rust belt, casually sells his newborn on the black market, convinced he and the child's mother can easily make another. Is Bruno an unregenerate sociopath, or is he merely a young man desensitized by poverty, a selfish "child" living completely in the now, who nevertheless has the potential of achieving responsibility and redemption? This film makes us watch Bruno with interest--if not sympathy--and care about these questions and his fate.

Realistic portrayal of a life I have no experience with. The acting from the young leads is superb and I love the way the film unfolds in a matter of fact way, making you pose your own questions and make up your own answers to the underlying motivations in the film.

Minimalism can be a slam dunk for some films, but here, it makes the story fall flat. A couple of very good scenes, but it would have been quite a bit more compelling if the filmmakers actually tried more filmmaking.

Mercifully unlike the Oscar-baiting Hollywood alternatives frequently cooked up, L'Enfant observes the down-there existence of a burgeoning family with equal sympathy and sublety, sans prestige moments.

Sean Penn, might be the greatest living actor, but Jérémie Rénier is greatest actor 'who is' living his character.

80 does not indicate 'not that hot'. Criticker doesn't know how to be a critic.

Man, Bruno is an asshole.

Another masterwork from the Dardennes. The camerawork mesmerizes and draws in the viewer, offering opportunity after opportunity to contemplate the internal struggles these people are enduring and the choices they are making. It's this style of showing what is unseen through intense and unflinching focus on the seen that makes these writer/directors so special. The final shot is exquisite in this regard, an uninterrupted look at brokenness and reaching out for comfort. Brilliant.

I think the Palme d'Or was a bit exaggerated -- Caché should've won it --, but this one proves that the Dardennes' physical narrative can fill up any story -- even this one, that most of the time looks conventional.

A fresh take on the spirit of the New Wave.

[read other's plot summaries] Perfectly toned, perfectly modern (post dogma), perfectly paced, un-melodramatic, immediate. There could be many definitions of 'what film should be', and this film is the PERFECT example of one definition (of what film should be)

"A miracle." - Ed Gonzalez