It's an uplifting movie about the rewards of perseverance and community.
100
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
Has a slow-burning emotional power.
91
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
If it touches up against the syrupy at a very few moments, it's nevertheless consistently clear-eyed and convincing.
80
Village VoiceLeslie Camhi
Village VoiceLeslie Camhi
The film's occasional dips into sentimental cuteness and its too-pat ending can't cancel the gap that yawns ever wider between rural and urban society.
80
L.A. WeeklyF. X. Feeney
L.A. WeeklyF. X. Feeney
Zhang's work is always worth watching, but this is the first of his films in which the sorrows are so heart-rending, its many comic moments so laugh-out-loud human.
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
His story is simple, unadorned, direct. Only the margins are complicated.
75
Miami Herald
Miami Herald
Zhang, who tried to make his actors as unaware of the camera as possible, lets the story evolve slowly and deliberately.