Little White Lies (2012)

Critic Reviews

• Rick Groen, Globe and Mail

  In what's meant to be a French take on The Big Chill -- comedy meets pathos as friends gather at a country house in the wake of a tragedy -- writer-director Guillaume Canet has wrought a meandering script that exercises everything except restraint.

• Linda Barnard, Toronto Star

  At 154 minutes, Little White Lies goes on 30 minutes longer than necessary and, with the exception of Cotillard, is heavily weighted toward the men's stories.

• Michael Rechtshaffen, Hollywood Reporter

  Canet has difficulty maintaining the film's finely calibrated tragic-comedic balance in the heavily maudlin third act, much to its detriment.

• Jordan Mintzer, Variety

  With a meandering 2 1/2-hour edit that could easily lose a reel or two, the fun gives way to several longueurs midway through.

• Matthew Toomey, ABC Radio Brisbane

  Some of the film's themes are a touch overdone but I'd strongly recommend this for lovers of great French cinema.

• Andrew L. Urban, Urban Cinefile

  The clear and tangible characters become familiar to us over the course of the film, and we are privy to some of their deepest fears and longings

• Louise Keller, Urban Cinefile

  On the flip side of the humour lies the serious implication of the lies of the title, which are not only voiced but couched in self-denial

• Liz Braun, Jam! Movies

  You won't be more than mildly interested, but Little White Lies has such a stellar cast that it's not a hardship to keep watching.

• Graham Young, Birmingham Mail

  A relatively unstructured running time of 154 minutes would test the patience of a saint at any time.

• Roz Laws, Birmingham Post

  True, it's fairly watchable and manages to pack an emotional punch at the end, but by then you may have lost interest.

• Alistair Harkness, Scotsman

  Canet can't seem to decide if he's making a farce or an earnest melodrama and his specious attempt to give everyone a moment of tearful redemption during the insufferably long climax is just unbearable.

• Philip French, Guardian [UK]

  The truths don't always ring true, the characters become increasingly dislikable the more we come to know them, the duration is excessive...

• Derek Malcolm, This is London

  If this is the kind of skilfully manipulated French film you like, you will not be surprised that some four million people have paid good money to see it in France.

• David Edwards, Daily Mirror [UK]

  The light melodrama is gently amusing at first before turning sickeningly self-satisfied.

• Christopher Tookey, Daily Mail [UK]

  Little White Lies sets out to be a Gallic Big Chill and ends up like a less comedic Grown Ups.

• Henry Fitzherbert, Daily Express

  The picture is nicely acted, especially by Marion Cotillard as a bored seductress, and it addresses mid-life soul-searching and self-deception with some acuity.

• Xan Brooks, Guardian [UK]

  Unspools as glossy, high-grade tosh, a sun-dappled Big Chill, without the rigour or insight required to make you care about these people and wonder which bed they will eventually wind up in.

• Stella Papamichael, Radio Times

  This funny and warm French ensemble effort plays out like an early Woody Allen comedy, with its bourgeois characters, witty banter and relationship intrigues.

• Zara Miller, Little White Lies

  While it may lack the preposterous pace of your favourite sitcom, the characters will still hook and draw you in.

• Leo Robson, Financial Times

  At times the film seems like a farce without jokes, at others like a satire without observations.

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