Central Station Critic Reviews

Fernanda Montenegro gives a landmark performance.Read the full review

A richly tender and moving experience.Read the full review

For Fernanda Montenegro, who bears more than a passing resemblance to Italy's late Giulietta Masina (Federico Fellini's wife and frequent star) in appearance and talent, "Central Station" is a personal triumph and a rich cinematic experience.Read the full review

Profoundly affecting.Read the full review

While the cinematography is gorgeous and the script extremely sharp, Central Station owes much of its strength to its two mismatched leads.Read the full review

Montenegro carries the film su-perbly with her portrait of gritty strength being worn down to a state of tattered vulnerability, while newcomer de Oliveira, a shoeshine boy who won the role over 1,500 other aspirants, is engagingly natural and happily doesn't beg for viewer sympathy.Read the full review

There's plenty of room for sentimentality here, but the wonder of Salles' film is all in the telling.Read the full review

A touching and unusual road movie-cum-buddy film.Read the full review

The movie's success rests largely on the shoulders of Fernanda Montenegro, an actress who successfully defeats any temptation to allow sentimentality to wreck her relationship with the child.Read the full review