Critical Reception
Film critic A.O. Scott, film critic for The New York Times, liked the direction of the film, writing, "Lost Embrace never feels strenuous or overdone. The tenderness of the family drama at its center, and the deep, hard-to-articulate feelings of a son for his enigmatic father and his heroically patient mother, emerge with a charming haphazardness. The sly artfulness is apparent only in retrospect. This is a small movie about a small world, but its modesty is part of what makes it durable and satisfying."
Kenneth Turan, film critic for the Los Angeles Times, liked the films direction and wrote, "Director (and co-writer) Burman displays an assured but intimate filmmaking style, at once casual, playful and idiosyncratic. With key sections of the film related by Ariel in voice-over, it's also a style that fosters complicity and connection with a central character who otherwise might not be a personal favorite."
Peter Keough, critic for the Boston Phoenix, also liked Burman's direction, though at times he said the film felt a bit derivative, and wrote, "Burman captures with an affection and an irony that match François Truffaut's, though his stylistic mannerisms can seem a little imitative."
The Boston Globe film critic, Wesley Morris, was impressed by the comedy, and wrote, "Lost Embrace has a novelist's human touch. Were it a book, it would go somewhere on the shelf with Jonathan Safran Foer and early Philip Roth. It also possesses traces of early Jean-Luc Godard and his wit with characters, as well as some of Wes Anderson's random silliness. But unlike in Godard and Anderson, an emotional undercurrent runs beneath this movie, and Burman makes that feel good without feeling strained."
Currently, the film has a 85% "Fresh" rating at Rotten Tomatoes, based on forty-six reviews.
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