Critic Reviews

• Wally Hammond, Time Out

  Salles and Thomas's movie contains some extraordinary moments and its fine editing injects a dynamic cross-cutting energy.

• Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

  Walter Salles' humanistic approach is evident in this film, which offers a poignant look of how Brazil has changed over the past decade.

• Joseph Proimakis, Movies for the Masses

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• Rich Cline, Shadows on the Wall

  This story of four brothers in São Paulo has a lively neorealist vibe that's utterly involving. And the characters are so vividly drawn by the filmmakers and cast that their mixture of hope and hopelessness really gets under our skin.

• Derek Malcolm, This is London

  It is as authentic as Salles and Thomas can make it even if it sometimes seems that, apart from the football angle, we have seen it all before. But if you haven't, then it's a real eye-opener.

• Nigel Andrews, Financial Times

  The curse of modern Brazilian cinema, it increasingly seems, is that every film reminds us of City of God while none measures up to it.

• , Sun Online

  At the end of the day there just isn't enough Brazilian flair to support a drawn-out encounter.

• Christopher Tookey, Daily Mail [UK]

  When a film strives this hard to be non-controversial and fashionably non-judgmental, it takes a lot of the sting out of its social comment. It just ends up as defeatist, liberal hand-wringing.

• Elliott Noble, Sky Movies

  Pleasingly, there are no cosy resolutions here; it's up to the viewer to decide each character's fate. Want a happy ending? Work for it.

• Tim Robey, Daily Telegraph

  Where most pictures about families end with huggy closure, this one ends in splinters, in pain, and with five different kinds of sudden, desperate hope.

• Peter Bradshaw, Guardian [UK]

  Heartfelt, well acted and confidently shot. But it is frustrating, because of a creeping reliance on favela-drama mannerisms and a culpable failure to think up an ending.

• Wendy Ide, Times [UK]

  Ultimately, there is an optimism to the film, albeit one that is tempered by the poignancy of lives shadowed by São Paulo's harsh indifference.

• Neil Smith, Film4

  A moving tale of working-class travails in modern Brazil that puts the carnage of City Of God and its ilk in sharp relief.

• Anna Hart, Empire Magazine

  Expertly crafted, you leave the cinema with São Paulo's dirt under your fingernails.

• Victor Olliver, Teletext

  Brazil-based drama directed by Walter Salles that went down well at Cannes this year. Of course, women hardly exist in this macho world.

• Fernando F. Croce, Slant Magazine

  Salles and Thomas tritely conflate evangelism, soccer and crime as hollow alternatives for the characters, who end up reduced to static sacrificial lambs just so the filmmakers can state, restate and underline their suffering-poor points.

• Pablo Villaca, Cinema em Cena

  Sem qualquer indício de pieguice ou maniqueísmo, não apenas comove profundamente como ainda nos leva a torcer desesperadamente por um final feliz para os complexos indivíduos aos quais nos apresenta.

• Jeremy Heilman, MovieMartyr.com

  Linha de Passe is a noble effort, sure to find favor with audiences predisposed to its message, but unenlightening for those who have seen such material handled with more skill.

Read all 18 critic reviews